An August 2024 study by ETH Zurich said,
“… many people manage to resist the constantly present temptations and get enough exercise,”
“We wanted to know what it is in our brain that helps us make these decisions.”
“In neuroscience, dopamine is a popular explanation for why we choose to do some things but avoid others,”
“However, our current knowledge about dopamine does not easily explain why we decide to exercise instead of eating,”
“Our brain releases dopamine both when we eat and when we exercise, which does not explain why we choose one over the other.”
“Mice like a milkshake for the same reason people do: it contains lots of sugar and fat and tastes good,”
“This means that the primary role of the orexin system is not to control how much the mice move or how much they eat,”
“Rather, it seems central to making the decision between one and the other, when both options are available.”
“It will now be a matter of verifying our results in humans”
“If we understand how the brain arbitrates between food consumption and physical activity, we can develop more effective strategies for addressing the global obesity epidemic and related metabolic disorders.”