Appetite: Difference between revisions
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'''Appetite''' is the desire to eat food, and is experienced as [[hunger]]. Appetite in mammals is controlled by neural circuits in the [[hypothalamus]] which are influenced by hormonal and neural signals from the digestive tract, including the appetite-stimulating hormone [[ghrelin]]. The drive to eat is balanced by satiety signals from the digestive tract, and by feedback from [[adipocytes|adipose tissue]] - including by the hormone [[leptin]]. Appetite is also subject to sensory stimuli - the sight and smell of food, and is modulated by internal (circadian) rhythms; we are hungry at meal times. Appetite is also influenced by stress, and by physiological state - appetite is stimulated after exercise, and is enhanced in pregnancy. | |||
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Revision as of 08:20, 21 December 2010
Appetite is the desire to eat food, and is experienced as hunger. Appetite in mammals is controlled by neural circuits in the hypothalamus which are influenced by hormonal and neural signals from the digestive tract, including the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin. The drive to eat is balanced by satiety signals from the digestive tract, and by feedback from adipose tissue - including by the hormone leptin. Appetite is also subject to sensory stimuli - the sight and smell of food, and is modulated by internal (circadian) rhythms; we are hungry at meal times. Appetite is also influenced by stress, and by physiological state - appetite is stimulated after exercise, and is enhanced in pregnancy.
