Talk:Stress and appetite

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  1. Christina Lang 13:17, 28 September 2010 (UTC)
  2. Cyrus Dailami 12:42, 28 September 2010 (UTC)
  3. James Pattinson 13:08, 28 September 2010 (UTC)
  4. Emelie Gustafson 13:16, 28 September 2010 (UTC)
  5. Holly Clark 13:17, 28 September 2010 (UTC)
  6. Gillian McNeill 13:17, 28 September 2010 (UTC)
  7. Thomas C Horne 13:23, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

Testing! We are far too many on this topic. Max. 4. During the class last week it was decided that Holly, Gillian, Christina and I (Emelie) were doing this topic since we signed up to it. Just wondering what's going on, and how we are going to adress this.

I think the course organiser agreed that more than one group could carry out the same talk, is there any way we could split the talk? or maybe he wouldn't mind if two groups covered the same talk.

The problem is that then the same topics will be covered. But if the course organise is okay with it, then I suppose it would be okay. But I doubt that there will be 7 different topics under this subject which will be big enough to write enough on. So they would end up pretty similar.Emelie Gustafson 13:36, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

This is potentially a very large topic; it will include peripheral actions of glucocorticoids, the role of the PVN as a target for appetite regulating circuits and as a controller of the HPA axis and the sympathetic nervous system, sympathetic regulation, "comfort" eating, effects of chronic severe stress (including cachexia), and should touch on POMC deficiency and clinical conditions (Cushings etc).
Stress has a bidirectional effect on appetite; mild intermittent stress generally stimulates appetite but chronic severe stress can lead to loss of appetite and severe weight loss. One natural separation might be to look separately at the mechanisms by which stress can lead to weight gain and mechanisms by which stress can lead to weight loss. One subtopic might be the actions of glucocorticoids and another the neural circuitry of interactions between the PVN and appetite regulating centres. Gareth Leng 09:50, 1 October 2010 (UTC)

Cyrus, you are registered both in Genetics of Obesity, and Stress and Appetite, please choose only one of these topics. Thanks. Nancy Sabatier 09:54, 1 October 2010 (UTC)

How are we feeling about the separation of the topic? In light of some research I think ti might be easier to keep it as on topic but with 7 subheadings, as to avoid significant overlap. Opinions? I have thought of some rough subheading suggestions, none of which are necessarily great, but I would love some input.

- Neural mechanisms of stress, neural mechanisms of appetite--> How they are interconnected.

-Chronic stress (habitual stress?), decrease in appetite?--Illness (Cushings?), wasitng (cancer?)--Weight gain in the long term? Abdominal fat and resulting morbidity?

- Acute stress (Novel stressors?)--Increase in appetite? Specific appetite for food high in calories?

- Psychology behind the link between stress and eating--Habit formation, learning and memory as induced by GCs

- Physiology behind increased calorie consumption and stress--how increases in available fat decreases the activity of the HPA axis?

- Comfort eating--male and female differences? Why there are differences? Consequences of comfprt eating and how it links to the above topics.

These are just rough suggestions. We could then each have a sub-heading and communicate through here what we intend on writing, thus avoiding overlap. Please let me know what you guys think.Emelie Gustafson 11:12, 4 October 2010 (UTC)


Emelie, I think that splitting the topic into seven subtopics is the best idea! We could each concentrate on a specific aspect, and then come together to edit them and write a short conclusion.

I agree with the subheadings you have suggested, although I think we could also include a general introduction to the stress response and the HPA axis, as having a general understanding of these topics would be most helpful to any non-scientific readers.

Also, in the comfort eating section, I think it would be helpful to talk about why people comfort eat, ie, that high sugar/fat foods play a part in inhibiting the stress response and promoting a feeling of well-being (and the link to serotonin production. The following article is a good starting point for this topic; http://www.pnas.org/content/100/20/11696.full Holly Clark

Holly, that sounds great. Would you mind making an updated list of subheadings? If no one has any objections in the next couple of days I would suggest that we indicate which subheading we want and start our research so that we can publish our references by next week, if Im not mistaken the deadline for that is the 12th?Emelie Gustafson 10:53, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

Since I haven't heard anything from anyone with any objections, I am just going to go ahead and say that I would like to write about the neural mechanisms of appetite and if there are enough topics for everyone, I think that I could use the introduction to the neural mechanisms of appetite as well as the stress axis as an introduction to the paper. Then you guys can expand on how the two are interconnected in the following parts of this paper. Any comments? So basically, I will write the introduction, including a brief description of the neural mechanisms underlying appetite and stress. If everyone could indicate what they will be writing about, we should be able to get started soon. Cheers.Emelie Gustafson 15:27, 10 October 2010 (UTC)


Related articles

You'll see that on the Related articles subpage I've placed links to all the articles from the other groups this year - and also to last year's articles. Good luck with this, I'm seeing some reference lists come up, but not all.Gareth Leng 16:03, 9 October 2010 (UTC)


Hey guys, so here's an updated version of Emelie's subheadings. If we could start posting possible papers on here, since we need to get a Bibliography together by Tuesday!!

- General intro to the stress response and the HPA axis (HOLLY)

- Neural mechanisms of appetite and how this interconnects with the HPA axis (EMELIE)

-Chronic stress (habitual stress?), decrease in appetite?--Illness (Cushings?), wasitng (cancer?)--Weight gain in the long term? Management of weight and stress? Abdominal fat and resulting morbidity?

- Acute stress (Novel stressors?)--Increase in appetite? Specific appetite for food high in calories? (CHRISTIE)

- Psychology behind the link between stress and eating--Habit formation, learning and memory as induced by GCs (GILLIAN)

- Physiology behind increased calorie consumption and stress--how increases in available fat decreases the activity of the HPA axis?

- Comfort eating--male and female differences? Why there are differences? Consequences of comfprt eating and how it links to the above topics. ALSO people comfort eat, ie, that high sugar/fat foods play a part in inhibiting the stress response and promoting a feeling of well-being (and the link to serotonin production. The following article is a good starting point for this topic; http://www.pnas.org/content/100/20/11696.full

Holly Clark 18.00 10/10/10


Excellent Holly, I will pick and write about the second of the topics: Neural mechanisms of appetite and how this interconnects with the HPA axis, if that's ok. If everyone could post their name next to the subheadings that would be great!Emelie Gustafson 09:55, 11 October 2010 (UTC)


Hello, I will do the psychology behind the link between stress and eating if that is ok. Gillian McNeill 09:58, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

It seems that Emelie and Holly have been doing most of the thinking so far. It's a big subject, they're going to need inputs from all of you guys. Nancy Sabatier 11:37, 11 October 2010 (UTC)


Alright guys, I have added my references to the bibliography page. They are quite good journals, and may be relevant for other topics. I limited the number since we are so many, I think that around 3 references each should be sufficient. Also, if anyone prefers a different way of referencing please say so, since we all need to do it the same way, and I will amend mine. Emelie Gustafson 13:08, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

Hiya, sorry about the delay i'll do the Acute Stress topic :) Christina Lang 09:24, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

Just another thought, do you think we should have a small section on managing weight and stress? Or should this be included in the chronic stress section? Christina Lang 09:53, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

I'll do the general intro to stress and the HPA axis. Christie, I think that would be a good section to include! It could probably be incorporated into the chronic stress section, so I'll amend that under the subheading :) Holly Clark 11.51, 12/10/10


Cyrus, James, and Thomas, it would be great to hear from you and see your contribution to the article. Nancy Sabatier 13:25, 18 October 2010 (UTC)