Research
Hormonal
Activation of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus suppresses food intake and increases energy expenditure via the central melanocortin pathway.
Your body uses specific brain neurons (POMC) to tell you when to stop eating and burn energy. These neurons respond to hormones like leptin. Understanding this biology helps explain why dieting is hard—it's not just willpower, it's a biological circuit.
StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
direct activation of POMC neurons lead to suppression of food intake... POMC neurons suppress appetite by releasing α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) which is an agonist at the anorectic melanocortin-4 receptors (MC4Rs)... leptin excitation of POMC neurons activates central melanocortin pathways that increase energy expenditure
Why this rating
Supported by knockout mice, optogenetics, chemogenetics, and human genetic studies.
Source
Network of hypothalamic neurons that control appetite
Jong‐Woo Sohn · BMB Reports · 2015
DOI 10.5483/bmbrep.2015.48.4.272
narrative_reviewCited 317×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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