About this Research Topic
Brain and internal organs communicate with one another, and nutrients affect both of them for physical and mental health. The word “lemon”, for example, can induce the flow of saliva, and "starvation" makes us feel hunger and imagine our favorite dishes. The endocrine system detects the physical condition to induce emotions as well as physiological reactions. For example, leptin, which is secreted from adipocytes under high blood glucose level, causes satiety and sleepiness with happiness in our mind. Low blood glucose, on the contrary, causes feelings of hunger and desire for foods, as well as inducing the secretion of glucocorticoids and glucagon from the adrenal cortex and pancreas, respectively, for glycolysis in the liver.
This Research Topic seeks to address issues concerning reciprocal communication between the brain and internal organs, as well as its regulation by nutrients:
First: how does brain control physical conditions of our internal organs according to sensations of hunger and satiety?
Second: how do physical conditions (such as blood glucose levels) regulate brain function, especially in the hypothalamus? Third: how do nutrients affect communication between brain and internal organs for our mental and physical health?
Recent rapid and radical progress in endocrinology especially in the neural connectivity from, within, and to hypothalamus using in vivo optogenetic technique and behaviour analysis reveals the way that nutrition and hormones affect feeding behavior and taste preference especially in CRH and NPY/AgRP neurons. Moreover, recent chemical analysis technology enables us to detect nutrients important for our mental and physical health from crops, herbs, and fermented foods including cheese, bread, and wine. This Research Topic also expects to gain insight for future directions of this field; for example, how and where does our free mind, such as the temporal preference of foods and the motivation to start searching for food, come from?
The scope of this Research Topic ranges from taste sensation, taste cognition, taste memory, conditional learning, taste preference, to sensation of blood glucose level in hypothalamus, regulation of endocrine system by nutrients, hypothalamus effect on autonomic neural system, and feeding behavior. Endocrine hormones from internal organs such as insulin, glucagon, and leptin are also in the scope of the Research Topic in terms of regulation of hypothalamus neuronal network for feeding behavior, motivation, and homeostasis of blood glucose level.
Within the scope of this Research Topic and its aim, we encourage authors to submit not only original research articles but also various types of papers including reviews, mini-reviews, perspectives and opinion pieces.
This Research Topic seeks to address issues concerning reciprocal communication between the brain and internal organs, as well as its regulation by nutrients:
First: how does brain control physical conditions of our internal organs according to sensations of hunger and satiety?
Second: how do physical conditions (such as blood glucose levels) regulate brain function, especially in the hypothalamus? Third: how do nutrients affect communication between brain and internal organs for our mental and physical health?
Recent rapid and radical progress in endocrinology especially in the neural connectivity from, within, and to hypothalamus using in vivo optogenetic technique and behaviour analysis reveals the way that nutrition and hormones affect feeding behavior and taste preference especially in CRH and NPY/AgRP neurons. Moreover, recent chemical analysis technology enables us to detect nutrients important for our mental and physical health from crops, herbs, and fermented foods including cheese, bread, and wine. This Research Topic also expects to gain insight for future directions of this field; for example, how and where does our free mind, such as the temporal preference of foods and the motivation to start searching for food, come from?
The scope of this Research Topic ranges from taste sensation, taste cognition, taste memory, conditional learning, taste preference, to sensation of blood glucose level in hypothalamus, regulation of endocrine system by nutrients, hypothalamus effect on autonomic neural system, and feeding behavior. Endocrine hormones from internal organs such as insulin, glucagon, and leptin are also in the scope of the Research Topic in terms of regulation of hypothalamus neuronal network for feeding behavior, motivation, and homeostasis of blood glucose level.
Within the scope of this Research Topic and its aim, we encourage authors to submit not only original research articles but also various types of papers including reviews, mini-reviews, perspectives and opinion pieces.
Keywords: cerebral cortex, hypothalamus, NPY/AgRP neuron, POMC neuron, endocrine system, taste, leptin, corticosterone, autonomic nervous system, nutrition, glucose, mineral, vitamin, amygdala
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
