Ghrelin: A Link Between Food Reward and Motivation
Yaren Kayabaşı1, Oytun Erbaş1
1ERBAS Institute of Experimental Medicine, Illinois, USA & Gebze, Turkey
Keywords: Ghrelin hormone, ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT), hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, nutritional behavior, reward, motivation
Abstract
Ghrelin is a peptide hormone generated in the stomach by the ghrelin O-acyltransferase enzyme, which has an orexigenic effect in the central nervous system when it binds to peripheral receptors. Ghrelin secretion increases before meals, increasing food intake by signaling hunger in the hypothalamus via homeostatic mechanisms. Ghrelin interacts with various regions of the brain to adjust food intake and boost food reward at the same time. In addition to its effects on feeding behavior, the hormone ghrelin, which interacts with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, has an impact on stress and various psychiatric disorders produced by stress. The effects of the ghrelin hormone on nutritional behavior, reward, motivation, and stress were described in this review with scientific examples.
Cite this article as: Kayabaşı Y, Erbaş O. Ghrelin: A Link Between Food Reward and Motivation. JEB Med Sci 2022;3(1):62-67.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.