Archived Seminar: Why Did I Eat That? Alterations in Brain and Behavior Contributing to Obesity

About this Seminar

While urges to eat are regulated by hunger, satiety, and energy demand, they are also strongly influenced by sights, sounds, and smells that are associated with food (food cues). Dr. Ferrario’s lab examines the neurobiological mechanisms of cue-triggered food craving, how these processes are influenced by consumption of sugary, fatty, “junk-food” diets, and susceptibility to obesity. Her lab uses preclinical models and a range of approaches including behavioral pharmacology, biochemistry, and slice electrophysiology in combination with optogenetics. In her talk, she will discuss how alterations in excitatory transmission within the brain's “reward” pathway influence food craving, and the relationship of these alterations to aberrant vs. normative reward-seeking behaviors. In her talk, she will discuss how enhanced responsivity to food cues contributes to obesity, how alterations in excitatory transmission within the brain's “reward” pathway influence food craving, interact with susceptibility to obesity.

Additional Details

This is a free event hosted by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and co-sponsored by the institute's Addiction Recovery Research Center and the Center for Health Behaviors Research. The Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series, which runs annually from September to May, has featured leading biomedical researchers from throughout the country since the program began in 2012. The lectures are also open to all members of the Virginia Tech community including graduate students, undergraduates, faculty, and staff, as well as the public.

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