PSY 102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 15: Ghrelin, Blood Sugar, Leptin
27 Apr 2016
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Research observed that men become preoccupied with thoughts of food when they underwent semi-starvation. Cannon and washburn"s experiment using a balloon indicated that there is an association between hunger and stomach contractions. When rats had their stomachs removed, hunger continued. Increases in the hormone insulin diminish blood glucose, partly by converting it to stored fat, which causes hunger to increase. The brain area that plays a role in controlling hunger and other bodily maintenance functions is the hypothalamus. One area called the arcuate nucleus has a center that secretes appetite- stimulating hormones and another center that secrets appetite-suppressing hormones. The hunger-arousing hormone secreted by an empty stomach is ghrelin: when a portion of an obese person"s stomach is surgically sealed off, the remaining stomach produces less ghrelin. Other appetite hormones include leptin, which is secreted by fat cells and decreases hunger. Orexin is secreted by the hypothalamus and triggers hunger. Pyy is secreted by the digestive tract and decreases hunger.
