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TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Introduction
  • How did it all start - a short historical excursion
  • How does the brain work? - A brief anatomical excursion
  • Communication via neurotransmitters
  • Homeostatic regulation of energy balance: connecting the hypothalamus, hindbrain and the gut.
  • Where is it happening? The main brain areas of homeostatic regulation
  • Who tells the brain what's going on in the body? (afferent signals)
  • The arcuate nucleus - relay-hub and point of first contact
  • The CNS melanocortin system – the main essential system in homeostatic regulation
  • The lateral hypothalamic/perifornical system – the basis for Eliot Stellar's hunger center; beyond the arcuate hub
  • Other hypothalamic centers involved in the homeostatic regulation of energy balance
  • More about satiety signals: What makes us stop eating? How do we know when enough is enough? The importance of gut-brain interactions
  • What has the hindbrain got to do with it?
  • How the hypothalamus and the brainstem communicate to regulate energy balance
  • Stepping outside the homeostatic square: extra-hypothalamic centers involved in reward, hedonism and cognition contribute to body weight regulation
  • SUMMARY
  • Neuropeptides in hypothalamic circuits involved in metabolism regulation
  • Orexigenic neuropeptides and brain derived factors
  • Anorexigenic neuropeptides and brain-derived factors