本期上一篇研究論文報告說，睡眠剝奪（失眠）會造成與對高熱量食物的欲望相關(guān)的腦活動發(fā)生變化。這些發(fā)現(xiàn)讓我們對支持失眠與肥胖之間存在一個的流行病學(xué)證據(jù)有了進(jìn)一步認(rèn)識。

工業(yè)化國家肥胖的急劇增加據(jù)說與這些國家人們睡眠時間持續(xù)減少有關(guān)。人們一般認(rèn)為，失眠會增強(qiáng)食欲，但我們對能夠解釋這一效應(yīng)的機(jī)制卻不是*了解。Matthew Walker及其同事利用腦成像來研究讓失眠者看不同熱量食物的圖片時他們的反應(yīng)。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，失眠者在與吃的動機(jī)相關(guān)的腦區(qū)域中活動較大，而在評價食物刺激的腦區(qū)域中活動降低，這導(dǎo)致對高熱量食物的欲望增強(qiáng)。

雖然還需要進(jìn)一步研究來了解為什么失眠對這些腦區(qū)域有影響，但作者希望這些發(fā)現(xiàn)將能幫助改進(jìn)公共衛(wèi)生政策。

推薦的英文摘要

The impact of sleep deprivation on food desire in the human brain

Stephanie M. Greer,  Andrea N. Goldstein  & Matthew P. Walker

Epidemiological evidence supports a link between sleep loss and obesity. However, the detrimental impact of sleep deprivation on central brain mechanisms governing appetitive food desire remains unknown. Here we report that sleep deprivation significantly decreases activity in appetitive evaluation regions within the human frontal cortex and insular cortex during food desirability choices, combined with a converse amplification of activity within the amygdala. Moreover, this bi-directional change in the profile of brain activity is further associated with a significant increase in the desire for weight-gain promoting high-calorie foods following sleep deprivation, the extent of which is predicted by the subjective severity of sleep loss across participants. These findings provide an explanatory brain mechanism by which insufficient sleep may lead to the development/maintenance of obesity through diminished activity in higher-order cortical evaluation regions, combined with excess subcortical limbic responsivity, resulting in the selection of foods most capable of triggering weight-gain.