The Neurobiology of Food Intake and Overeating – PSY 333
Overview: It is clear that as a species we are experiencing tremendous difficulty
in our relationship with food. Food intake can be regulated by precise feeding
mechanisms that have evolved allowing for the survival of the human race.
However, the environmental conditions our ancestors dealt with differ drastically
than those presented in today’s society, where obesity and its physical
comorbidities (e.g., diabetes, heart disease) continue to place a burden on
society in general, and the individual in particular.
Instructional Objectives: This undergraduate course will examine the
underlying basis of energy (food) intake, its expenditure; learned and unlearned
physiological and neurological mechanisms that drive food intake and overeating,
and vulnerabilities to obesity. Information will be presented form a range of
disciplines including psychology, neuroscience and medicine. The overall goal of
the course is to consolidate our understanding of what drives us to eat and why
what we eat, and where we eat it is so important.
Time and Location:
10:20-11:40 AM on Tuesday and Thursday throughout Spring 2016 in Giltner
104.
**Office hours on Tuesday 12PM-1PM in Giltner 205**
Grading: Grades will be determined from four sources:
(i) Group presentation (25%): During the course you will have the opportunity to
discuss in groups a particular topic (e.g., is obesity due to an addiction to food?).
You will be graded on attendance and the presentation of your evidence as a
group and as individuals.
(ii) Module quiz sheets (40%): Approximately each fortnight you will be presented
with a multiple-choice quiz on topics previously discussed in class.
(iii) Final exam (30%): Towards the end of the course you will be administered a
final exam.
(iv) Attendance (5%): Attendance will be monitored throughout the semester;
many classes will have overlapping themes, which are designed to help with
conceptualizing the topics discussed. Students who attend less than 90%
(without genuine mitigating circumstances) of the classes will receive a 5%
reduction in their overall grade.
Grades will be assigned on the following scale:
90-100% = 4.0 75-79% = 2.5 60-64% = 1.0
85-89% = 3.5 70-74% = 2.0 < 60% = 0
80-84% = 3.0 65-69% = 1.5
Additional information
- Reading and other material: Relevant manuscripts, commentaries, opinion
articles and reviews will be made available electronically (suggested material can
be found below). These readings have been purposely chosen due to their
relevance to the material discussed in class. During class you will also be shown
carefully selected videos on topics relevant to the study of food intake and
overeating.
- Plagiarism and cheating: For students and instructors alike, academic integrity
forms the backbone of our endeavors; plagiarism and/or cheating will not be
tolerated and may be punished, including lowering of your grade and formally
reporting the offense.
- If you are late or do not attend an assessment (presentation, quiz or final exam)
you will automatically receive a grade reduction based on the number of points
that were available for that particular assessment.
Suggested reading material
Module 1 Reading: Taste
Scott, K. K. (2005). Taste recognition: food for thought. Neuron, 48(3), 455–464.
de Araujo, I. E., Oliveira-Maia, A. J., Sotnikova, T. D., Gainetdinov, R. R., Caron,
M. G., Nicolelis, M. A. L., & Simon, S. A. (2008). Food Reward in the Absence of
Taste Receptor Signaling. Neuron, 57(6), 930–941.
Module 2 Reading: Gut peptides
Montague, C. T., Farooqi, I. S., Whitehead, J. P., Soos, M. A., Rau, H.,
Wareham, N. J., et al. (1997). Congenital leptin deficiency is associated with
severe early-onset obesity in humans. Nature, 387(6636), 903–908.
Ariyasu, H. (2001). Stomach Is a Major Source of Circulating Ghrelin, and
Feeding State Determines Plasma Ghrelin-Like Immunoreactivity Levels in
Humans. Diabetes, 86(10), 4753–4758.
Module 3 Reading: Neuropeptides
Jastreboff, A. M., Potenza, M. N., Lacadie, C., Hong, K. A., Sherwin, R. S., &
Sinha, R. (2011). Body mass index, metabolic factors, and striatal activation
during stressful and neutral-relaxing states: an FMRI study.
Neuropsychopharmacology, 36(3), 627–637.
Kroemer, N. B., Krebs, L., Kobiella, A., Grimm, O., Vollstädt-Klein, S.,
Wolfensteller, U., et al. (2013). (Still) longing for food: insulin reactivity modulates
response to food pictures. Human Brain Mapping, 34(10), 2367–2380.
Module 4 Reading: Feeding centers
Balagura & Davenport (1970). Feeding patterns of normal and ventromedial
hypothalamic lesioned male and female rats. Journal of Comparative and
Physiological Psychology. 71(3), 357-364.
Johnson, P. M., & Kenny, P. J. (2010). Dopamine D2 receptors in addiction-like
reward dysfunction and compulsive eating in obese rats. Nature Neuroscience,
13(5), 635–U156.
Module 5 Reading: Learning, cognition and obesity
Berridge, K. C., & Robinson, T. E. (2003). Parsing reward. Trends in
Neurosciences, 26(9), 507–513.
Johnson, A. W. (2013). Eating beyond metabolic need: how environmental cues
influence feeding behavior. Trends in Neurosciences, 36(2), 101–109.
Module 6 Reading: Genetics of obesity
Bouchard, C., Tremblay, A., Després, J.-P., Nadeau, A., Lupien, P. J., Thériault,
G., et al. (1990). The Response to Long-Term Overfeeding in Identical Twins.
The New England Journal of Medicine, 322(21), 1477–1482.
Module 7 Reading: Epigenetics
Heijmans, B. T., Tobi, E. W., Stein, A. D., Putter, H., Blauw, G. J., Susser, E. S.,
et al. (2008). Persistent epigenetic differences associated with prenatal exposure
to famine in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
105(44), 17046–17049.
Module 8 Reading: Addiction
Benton, D. (2010). The plausibility of sugar addiction and its role in obesity and
eating disorders. Clinical Nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland), 29(3), 288–303.
Module 9 Reading: Stress and disease
Pervanidou, P., & Chrousos, G. P. (2012). Metabolic consequences of stress
during childhood and adolescence. Metabolism-Clinical and Experimental, 61(5),
611–619.
Module 10 Reading: Obesogenic envrionment
Drewnowski, A. (2004). Obesity and the food environment. American Journal of
Preventative Medicine, 27(3), 154–162.
Week beginning
1/12/16
Course topic(s)
- Course introduction
- The killer at large and
the obesity epidemic
- Taste and experience
Activities
- Introduction and video
2/23/16
- The genetics of obesity
3/2/16
3/30/16
- Why are thin people
not fat
- Spring Break
- Epigenetics
- Presentation
introduction
- Presentation
preparation
- Presentations
- Quiz (Modules 4&5)
- Module 6 reading
material
- Video
4/6/16
- Addiction
4/13/16
- Obesity, stress and
disease
4/20/16
- The obesogenic
environment
4/27/16
- Summary and review
- End of semester exam
1/19/16
1/26/16
2/2/16
2/9/16
2/16/16
3/9/16
3/16/16
3/23/16
- Module 1 reading
material
- Orexigenic and
- Quiz (Module 1)
anorexigenic gut peptides - Module 2 reading
material
- Neuropeptidergic
- Module 3 reading
feeding mechanisms
material
- Brain mechanisms of
- Quiz (Modules 2&3)
feeding and reward
- Module 4 reading
material
- Learning, cognition and - Module 5 reading
obesity
material
- Module 7 reading
material
- Quiz (Modules 6&7)
- Group presentation
- Module 8 reading
material
- Reading of module 9
material
- Quiz
- Reading of module 10
material
- Quiz (Modules 9&10)
- Question and answer
sessions
- Final exam to be
delivered on 4/30/15