Grant: Operating Grant

Binge eating is a serious health problem that affects about 3% of the population. Affected people describe daily exhausting struggles with this disorder, which is disastrous from the psychological and metabolic points of view. Accumulating evidence suggests that bingeing episodes usually represent attempts to cope with chronic stress by overeating palatable food. This fact by itself is quite surprising given that evolutionarily the role of stress was to decrease appetite and inhibit digestion. The anorectic effect of stress generally provides the possibility of redirecting blood flow to the muscles and focusing the sensory systems on immediately managing the stressful situation. The present project will seek out how chronic stress may alter the neuronal mechanisms which instead of an anorectic reaction would trigger overeating.