The effects of ghrelin on the amygdala response to visual food and non-food stimuli : an fMRI study in humans

A complex physiological system, composed of central and peripheral signals, balances energy intake and expenditure. Among these signals, the enteric and orexigenic hormone ghrelin is a regulator of energy balance with several uncharacterized functions. Although much research has accumulated regarding ghrelin's effects on metabolic parameters, little is known about its other behavioural and cognitive effects. Consequently, this study, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, showed that ghrelin administered intravenously to healthy volunteers increased the neural response to food pictures, as well as faces of fear and disgust, in brain areas regulating the hedonic and incentive evaluation of visual stimuli, such as the amygdala. Moreover, ghrelin exhibited memory enhancing effects for both food pictures and faces of fear and disgust. These findings suggest that ghrelin's activation of the amygdala may serve as a magnitude signal for value judgments of visually-presented food and non-food stimuli, thus engaging critical feeding, emotional and cognitive responses