Research
Hormonal
The ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus acts as a 'satiety center' that inhibits the lateral 'feeding center'; destruction of this area causes hyperphagia and obesity due to a failure to terminate feeding, not an increase in the motivation to start eating.
If you struggle with stopping eating once you start, it may be a satiety signal issue rather than a craving issue. Focus on meal structure and stopping cues.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
In this system the ventrolateral area would be a 'feeding center' responsible for the urge to eat or the initiation of feeding, while the ventromedial nucleus would be a 'satiety center' capable of exerting inhibitory control over the lateral feeding center.
Why this rating
Supported by lesion studies in multiple species and behavioral experiments.
Source
Regulation of Food Intake and Obesity
Jean Mayer et al. · Science · 1967
DOI 10.1126/science.156.3773.328
narrative_reviewCited 313×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Obesity results from a failure of the central hypothalamic satiety mechanism (specifically the ventromedial nucleus) to inhibit the lateral feeding center, leading to hyperphagia, rather than from a simple failure of peripheral stomach sensations.Good
- Short-term food intake regulation is driven by a 'glucostatic' mechanism where glucose utilization in the ventromedial hypothalamus triggers satiety, rather than blood glucose concentration alone.Good
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