A person gets pleasure from food because it causes the release of serotonin – the “pleasure hormone”. What processes in the body lead to this and how during eating the digestive system interacts with the brain, scientists from Germany and Great Britain have found out, writes Naked Science.
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is involved in the regulation of mood, sleep, sexual and eating behavior. It is called the “pleasure hormone”, but it is proposed to be renamed “hormone-all-not-so-bad”. It is this substance that is responsible for the pleasurable sensations we experience when we eat.
Specialists from Bonn (Germany) and Cambridge (UK) universities conducted a study on fruit fly larvae and found that swallowing food leads to stretching of the esophagus, and it is at this point that serotonin is released. The corresponding scientific article was published in the journal Current Biology.
The authors of the work chose to study the larvae of fruit flies, because their nervous system is simpler than the human, but at the same time, its structure allows you to study the mechanisms that may be common to different species. These insects have 10-15 thousand nerve cells (in the human brain – 100 billion), each of which with the help of outgrowths connected to dozens or even hundreds of other neurons and included in complex networks.
The larvae were cut into thousands of thin layers and photographed with an electron microscope. Then the researchers created three-dimensional images from the pictures and established significant for the study of connections between the nerve cells of flies. It turned out that the insects have a kind of “stretch receptor” in the esophagus. It is linked to a group of six neurons in the larvae’s brain that are capable of producing serotonin.
“The serotonin neurons can detect whether the larva has swallowed food or not and also assess the quality of the food. They only produce serotonin in response to good quality food, which in turn ensures that the larva continues to feed,” the researchers explained.
A receptor in the esophagus of fruit flies was found to be connected to the brain neurons that produce serotonin Illustration: Dr. Anton Miroschnikow, University of Bonn, Current Biology
According to the scientists, the smell of food and the sensation of its taste induce to start eating, but the continuation of the meal depends largely on the pleasant sensations that arise during swallowing. Serotonin “rewards” the body for the food choice, and there is an incentive to repeat the actions that lead to the production of the hormone.
In further research, the authors of the paper want to test whether a similar mechanism is inherent in humans. If people also find a direct link between swallowing and pleasure, then there may be new ways to combat eating disorders. In particular, the scientists hypothesize, eliminating abnormalities in this mechanism could help those who suffer from anorexia and compulsive overeating.
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