8/28/2023 0 Comments Sick junk ban![]() ![]() Such mazes were used to test the memory of mice that ate high-fat diets. This lab mouse explores an arm of a Y-shaped maze. From there they were free to explore two of the three arms of the maze. Each mouse started in the center of the Y shape. In the first, they put the animals in a Y-shaped maze. Reichelt and her team used two different tests to gauge this working memory. And it involves the prefrontal cortex - that’s the same brain area that helps make decisions. It’s also important for reasoning and decision-making. Or what time you said you’d meet your friends. For example, working memory helps you remember which five things you need to buy at the store. It’s the type that allows us to hold onto information long enough to use it. The researchers tested the mice for what’s known as working memory. These mice also performed worse on memory tests than did mice eating a normal diet. Why animals often ‘stand in’ for peopleĪs expected, mice eating high-fat food gained weight and put on body fat. It would be like eating bacon cheeseburgers and ice cream every day.) A second group ate a healthy diet. One group of mice ate a diet in which 63 percent of their calories came from fat. In 2017, Reichelt was part of a team that fed adolescent mice high-fat foods to see how it affected their brains. Since mouse brains develop very much like our own, they can be used to understand how what we eat affects the human brain. That’s what Reichelt and her team discovered in their studies of “teenage” mice. That’s a big problem for adolescents because of the third issue: Growing brains can be more easily changed by eating high-fat, high-sugar foods. “It has a heightened drive for rewards and reduced self-regulation,” says Reichelt. The teen brain, thus, has two strikes against it when it comes to resisting junk food. ![]() So they get more good vibes from anything they find enjoyable. Adolescents have more dopamine receptors in the brain than do adults. That tells the brain that whatever it just experienced is worth getting more of. ![]() When dopamine docks, those receptors relay the “feel good” signal from the last cell to this new one. Once it arrives at a new cell, dopamine binds to docking stations there. Explainer: What is neurotransmission?Īs a neurotransmitter, it zips across the spaces between brain cells. And it is especially active in adolescent brains. It lifts our mood when we experience something rewarding. Dopamine is sometimes called the “feel good” chemical. That’s because of a natural chemical called dopamine (DOH-puh-meen). In fact, these regions are even more sensitive when we are young. Unlike the prefrontal cortex, the parts of the brain that make us feel good when we do something pleasurable - like eating tasty foods or being with friends - are fully developed by the teen years. But she notes that it also includes “how to assess risky behavior.”Īt the same time, teen brains get more buzz from rewards. “Most of our complex brain functions happen in the prefrontal cortex,” says Reichelt. Called the prefrontal cortex, this region doesn’t fully develop until we are in our early 20s.īrain imaging studies show that the prefrontal cortex turns on when we weigh risks and make decisions about how to act. The brain region that tells us we shouldn’t eat chips all the time - and helps us resist that urge - is the last to mature. Let’s break that down, starting with preteen and teen behaviors. The prefrontal cortex helps us understand risk and resist bad behaviors, such as eating an entire bag of chips. The prefrontal cortex region of the brain (shown here in green) isn’t fully mature until we are in our 20s. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |