Under- to Over-Eating: How Do Serotonin Receptors Contribute?
Under- to Over-Eating: How Do Serotonin Receptors Contribute?
Following on from several studies, neural underpinnings of anorexia following stress are equivalent to neural mechanisms that protect the brain from depression. Does anorexia protect from depression? Is it the reason for the potential efficacy of using deep-brain stimulation in anorexia? Why not then use pharmaceuticals to target the 5-HTR4? As for most diseases, maladaptive eating behaviors may result from a predisposition of the brain, associated with an impaired interface between the brain and periphery, in stressful conditions. Combining neurobiology, psychiatry and psychology in a concrete unique approach to identify a combined imbalance between environmental and neurobiological factors should provide the causes of feeding anomalies (anorexia, bulimia and binge-type eating disorders). In other words, specific neurobiological factors combined with acute or chronic environmental changes may drive people to suffer from eating disorders, leading to morbidity and even death. Finding the link between the neurobiological and environmental factors that lead to anorexia and/or binge-type eating disorders should be a priority. We shall first discover how to apply a combined therapeutic strategy, using both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic approaches. This implies the transfer of cumulative knowledge of neural underpinnings of eating disorders of animal models to human patients, and it requires full collaboration between neurobiologists, psychologists and psychiatrists, as has been started, for example, to establish common educational programs.
Future Perspective
Following on from several studies, neural underpinnings of anorexia following stress are equivalent to neural mechanisms that protect the brain from depression. Does anorexia protect from depression? Is it the reason for the potential efficacy of using deep-brain stimulation in anorexia? Why not then use pharmaceuticals to target the 5-HTR4? As for most diseases, maladaptive eating behaviors may result from a predisposition of the brain, associated with an impaired interface between the brain and periphery, in stressful conditions. Combining neurobiology, psychiatry and psychology in a concrete unique approach to identify a combined imbalance between environmental and neurobiological factors should provide the causes of feeding anomalies (anorexia, bulimia and binge-type eating disorders). In other words, specific neurobiological factors combined with acute or chronic environmental changes may drive people to suffer from eating disorders, leading to morbidity and even death. Finding the link between the neurobiological and environmental factors that lead to anorexia and/or binge-type eating disorders should be a priority. We shall first discover how to apply a combined therapeutic strategy, using both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic approaches. This implies the transfer of cumulative knowledge of neural underpinnings of eating disorders of animal models to human patients, and it requires full collaboration between neurobiologists, psychologists and psychiatrists, as has been started, for example, to establish common educational programs.
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