Discuss neural mechanisms involved in the control of eating

behaviour (8+16)
Homeostasis is a process which involves the body to maintain a constant internal
environment and it is assumed that each individual has a set point which their
weight is regulated around.
The dual-centre theory is a cycle demonstrating the theory of feeding behaviour.
The individual feels hungry which causes them to consume food in order to
resolve this issue. The body receives an indication of that food is reaching the
stomach and this causes blood glucose levels to rise and the hormone ghrelin to
decrease which is a hormone that gets released as a result of an empty stomach.
This change in the body causes the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) to be
activated which contains the satiety centre. The role of the VMH is to respond to
the increased blood glucose, the decrease in ghrelin but also, to decrease the
hormone CCK and gets released when food is detected in the duodenum which is
located in the small intestine. This causes the long term satiety signal leptin to
be released by the fat cells. The feeling of satiety arises and the individual stops
eating.
Sometime after this, the blood glucose will decrease and the ghrelin will
increases. This bodily change activates the lateral hypothalamus which is a
feeding centre that initiates the individual to eat. Research has been shown that
a neurotransmitter called neuropeptide Y (NPY) plays a large role in turning on
eating.
Support of this concept comes from Wickens (2000) who found that when rats
were injected with the neurotransmitter NPY, this caused them to immediately
begin feeding, even when they were satiated. This therefore provides evidence of
an on switch for eating behaviour and these findings suggests that one
explanation for why some overweight individuals overeat can be due to the
excess amounts of NPY in the brain which makes the individual persistently feel
hungry despite eating.
However, Yang et al. (2008) provides contradictory research showing how
abdominal fat also produces NPY but he suggests that this leads to a vicious
cycle which demonstrates how NPY produced in the brain can lead to the
individual eating more and overtime more fat cells will be produced. These
findings can be applied to the real world to help overweight individuals who are
at an increased risk of NPY as Yang recommended that this increase in NPY can
be treated through the use of drugs and therefore, this can prevent obesity.
This theory has been criticised for being deterministic. This is because the theory
only focuses on the idea that neural mechanisms are main reason for eating
behaviour. Also this theory is deterministic because it has not taken into account
the concept of free will which is clear that individuals have over their eating
behaviour. On the other hand, it can be argued that many individuals overcome
their physiological needs to eat which can be due to factors such as the
aspiration to lose weight. Therefore, this suggests that individuals do have some
form of control over their eating behaviour.

Research has been carried out to investigate the link between stress and hunger.
Lutter et al. (2008) found that the body produces more ghrelin when under
stress. This indicates that the ghrelin created is part of the bodys natural
defence against stress due to elevating the effects of reduced depressive and
anxious behaviours which can be associated with stressful situations. However,
this concept is contradicted by a researcher who found that ghrelin can in fact
boost an individuals appetite which can cause comfort-eating. This suggests that
comfort-eating can be reduced by blocking the bodys production of ghrelin and
can therefore help individuals to control their weight. However, blocking the
production of ghrelin has side effects due to the useful effects of ghrelin such as
the ability to help deal with stress.