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Summary of the course Nutritional Neuroscience (HNH51306_2020_3)
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Summary of the course Nutritional Neuroscience (HNH51306_2020_3) including all the lectures, figures, example questions and practicals.
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2020-2021NUTRITIONAL NEUROSCIENCES
HNH51306_2020_3
HOOGEVEEN, LIANNE
NUTRITION AND HEALTH
Period 3
,Index
INDEX ................................................................................................................................................................ 1
COURSE INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 4
LECTURE 1+2: INTRODUCTION TO NUTRITIONAL NEUROSCIENCE ............................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................................................................4
THE BRAIN .................................................................................................................................................................................4
Blood vessels in the brain .................................................................................................................................................4
The brainstem ....................................................................................................................................................................4
The Cerebellum .................................................................................................................................................................5
The forebrain......................................................................................................................................................................5
SPINAL CORD .............................................................................................................................................................................6
Peripheral nervous system ...............................................................................................................................................6
Vision ..................................................................................................................................................................................7
Olfaction .............................................................................................................................................................................7
Gustation ............................................................................................................................................................................7
Trigeminal sense ...............................................................................................................................................................8
Flavour ................................................................................................................................................................................8
NAVIGATING THE BRAIN .............................................................................................................................................................8
Locations ............................................................................................................................................................................8
Brain nomenclature options .............................................................................................................................................9
Gender and diet differences ............................................................................................................................................9
LECTURE 3+4: METHODS OF MEASURING BRAIN AND BEHAVIOUR – MRI/ FMRI .......................................... 9
MRI ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 10
What is MRI?.................................................................................................................................................................... 10
MRI – Basic ingredients .................................................................................................................................................. 10
MRI physics ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10
How to make an image? ................................................................................................................................................ 13
MRI versus functional MRI (fMRI) .................................................................................................................................. 13
FMRI ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 14
fMRI – pro’s and con’s .................................................................................................................................................... 14
fMRI – study design ........................................................................................................................................................ 15
Perfusion fMRI ................................................................................................................................................................. 16
LECTURE 5+6: METHODS OF MEASURING BRAIN AND BEHAVIOUR – EEG AND OTHERS ........................... 17
WHAT IS EEG? ....................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Background ..................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Neural origin ................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Place of electrodes ......................................................................................................................................................... 18
WHAT CAN WE DO WITH EEG? ............................................................................................................................................... 18
Spontaneous activity ...................................................................................................................................................... 18
Task-related activity ........................................................................................................................................................ 19
HOW DO WE ANALYSE EEG? .................................................................................................................................................. 21
LECTURE ON FMRI/ EEG DATA ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................... 21
TERMINOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................................................ 21
ANALYSIS STEPS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Pre-processing ................................................................................................................................................................ 22
Statistical model ............................................................................................................................................................. 22
Statistical inference ........................................................................................................................................................ 23
fMRI vs MRI vs EEG ......................................................................................................................................................... 23
LECTURE 7+8: INTRODUCTION TO NUTRITIONAL NEUROSCIENCES 2 ........................................................ 23
1
, INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................................... 23
BRAIN AREAS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Brain areas involved in eating ....................................................................................................................................... 24
behaviour – homeostatic centre.................................................................................................................................... 24
HORMONES ............................................................................................................................................................................ 24
Glucose ............................................................................................................................................................................ 24
Insulin............................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Leptin ............................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Ghrelin ............................................................................................................................................................................. 26
Peptide YY (PYY) ............................................................................................................................................................. 26
Others .............................................................................................................................................................................. 27
SATIATION/SATIETY ................................................................................................................................................................. 27
TOP-DOWN EFFECTS ............................................................................................................................................................... 28
COVERT DIFFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................. 28
EEG PRACTICAL............................................................................................................................................... 28
SINGLE SUBJECT (INDIVIDUAL LEVEL) ........................................................................................................................................ 28
MULTIPLE SUBJECTS (GROUP LEVEL)......................................................................................................................................... 31
LECTURE 9+10: METHODS OF MEASURING BRAIN AND BEHAVIOUR – EYE TRACKING .............................. 32
THEORY .................................................................................................................................................................................. 33
Information processing .................................................................................................................................................. 33
Top-down and bottom-up ............................................................................................................................................. 33
Perception ....................................................................................................................................................................... 34
Health belief formation .................................................................................................................................................. 34
MEASUREMENT ....................................................................................................................................................................... 34
4 key methods to measure consumer attention ......................................................................................................... 34
Paper ................................................................................................................................................................................ 35
FMRI PRACTICAL ............................................................................................................................................. 36
ASSIGNMENT 1: SPATIAL PRE-PROCESSING .............................................................................................................................. 36
ASSIGNMENT 2: SPATIAL PRE-PROCESSING AND (GROUP)-ANALYSIS ....................................................................................... 38
ASSIGNMENT 3 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 41
LECTURE 11 METHODS OF MEASURING BRAIN AND BEHAVIOUR - ANS MEASURES .................................. 42
NERVOUS SYSTEM ................................................................................................................................................................... 42
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (ANS) – MEASURES ................................................................................................................ 43
Skin conductance ........................................................................................................................................................... 43
Heart rate variability ....................................................................................................................................................... 43
LECTURE 12 NEUROBIOLOGY OF REWARD - MOTIVATION & DOPAMINE ................................................... 44
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................................... 44
Definitions ....................................................................................................................................................................... 44
Reward cues .................................................................................................................................................................... 45
Reward cues and dopamine ......................................................................................................................................... 45
Habits vs controlled behaviour ..................................................................................................................................... 46
Reward consumption ..................................................................................................................................................... 46
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................... 46
LECTURE 13 + 14 NEUROBIOLOGY OF REWARD – ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM ....................................... 47
ENDOCANNABINOIDS ............................................................................................................................................................. 47
Neurotansmitter release ................................................................................................................................................ 48
True/False ........................................................................................................................................................................ 48
NEUROBIOLOGY OF REWARD .................................................................................................................................................. 49
Dopamine........................................................................................................................................................................ 49
2
, Serotonin ......................................................................................................................................................................... 49
True/False ........................................................................................................................................................................ 50
OBESITY & NEUROINFLAMMATION........................................................................................................................................... 50
Endocannabinoid system .............................................................................................................................................. 51
True/false......................................................................................................................................................................... 51
Take home messages .................................................................................................................................................... 51
LECTURE 15 + 16 THE ROLE OF CEPHALIC PHASE RESPONSES IN THE REGULATION OF FOOD INTAKE ... 52
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................................... 52
DEFINITION ............................................................................................................................................................................. 52
CHARACTERISATION................................................................................................................................................................ 53
STIMULUS PROPERTIES ............................................................................................................................................................. 53
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................... 54
CONTRIBUTION OF CEPHALIC PHASE RESPONSE TO NUTRITIONAL HOMEOSTASIS ...................................................................... 54
CEPHALIC PHASE RESPONSES, SATIETY AND FOOD INTAKE ........................................................................................................ 54
EXAM QUESTIONS ................................................................................................................................................................... 54
LECTURE 17-20 RELATIONS BETWEEN FOOD AND BRAIN............................................................................ 55
BRAIN STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 55
RELATION FOOD AND BRAIN .................................................................................................................................................... 55
Primary brain functioning .............................................................................................................................................. 55
Critical stages in life ....................................................................................................................................................... 56
Research methodologies ............................................................................................................................................... 58
CURRENT SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOOD AND BRAIN .................................................................................................................... 59
Children ........................................................................................................................................................................... 59
Adolescents..................................................................................................................................................................... 61
Elderly .............................................................................................................................................................................. 62
Nutrition ........................................................................................................................................................................... 63
3
,Course
Introduction
On the average estimate we
make 14 food decisions
each day. This can in reality
be a lot more than 14. Eating
decisions can be determined
by food reward, stomach,
emotions, cognitions,
healthiness, health goals,
habits, bad habits and more.
Lecture 1+2:
Introduction to nutritional neuroscience
- Knows the basic subdivisions of the human nervous system
- Knows the basic ways/terms used to indicate the location of brain structures
- Knows in what type of processes the main relevant brain areas are involved
Introduction
There are some important starting points: Food is
necessary for survival, food is a primary reward, food
digestion/absorption is a homeostatic challenge, a
primary brain function is maintaining homeostasis and
the brain strives to automate responses and minimize
cognitive interference.
The brain
Blood vessels in the brain
You eat with your brain; all the food
decisions are made in the brain. The brain is part of the central nervous system.
The brain contains a lot of blood vessels; cerebral arteries and veins. The Circle
of Willis is a kind of round abound in the brain. If there is an obstruction, the
blood can flow the other way. Blood brings oxygen, glucose and hormones to the
brain.
The brainstem
The brainstem is one of the basic brain areas.
The brainstem consists of the midbrain, pons and medulla.
The brainstem is involved in reward processing, processing
gut signals and control of heart and breathing rate. The
brainstem receives and processes multiple GI signals. The
midbrain has autonomic functions. The substantia nigra and
the VTA contain dopamine neurons which is a reward circuit.
4
,The Cerebellum
The Cerebellum (the small brain) regulates motor control which is classic and well established.
There are also cognitive functions and a function in the feeding control.
The forebrain
The forebrain consists the cerebral cortex, the basal ganglia and the diencephalon (consists of
the thalamus and the hypothalamus). The forebrain consists of different lobes: frontal lobe,
parietal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe and the limbic lobe.
5 different lobes
The frontal lobe has a function in the stimulus
evaluation, decision making, controlling movement and
planning behaviour. The relevant subparts are the orbitofrontal
cortex, the dorsolateral cortex and medial prefrontal cortex.
The parietal lobe has a function in somatosensory
processing, visual processing and it controls the bodily
sensations.
The temporal lobe has a function in auditory processing, visual processing and the
hippocampus.
The occipital lobe has a function in the visual processing. This part is located at the back
of your head; when you get hit on the head you might see stars.
The limbic system is the 5th lobe and is subcortical. It is involved in emotion, learning,
motivation and autonomic functions. The key players are the amygdala, hippocampus and the
hypothalamus. There are other areas that are associated with the limbic system like the basal
ganglia, the orbitofrontal cortex and the piriform cortex (smell).
Insula
The insula consists of a hidden island. It is hidden in the lateral sulcus. It is concealed by parts
of frontal, parietal and temporal lobes. The insula is the limbic area which is involved in
emotion, interception and homeostasis. The anterior insula is involved in olfactory, gustatory
and limbic function à subjective feelings. The posterior insula is involved in perception of
bodily sensations for example pain, visceral sensations and gastric distension. The insula is a
5
,key connecting area with the S2, amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Insula activity encodes the
somatosensory and olfactory properties of food.
Hippocampus
The limbic lobe consists of the hypothalamus, the amygdala,
the basal ganglia and the hippocampus. The hippocampus
looks like a seahorse. It is involved in the formation of
memories, the formation of associations and the spatial
navigation. People with damage in the hippocampus are not
able to form new memories. The hippocampus is traditionally
linked to learning and memory; however, it also appears to play a role in motivation and in
linking energy balance information to incentive behaviour. There is greater BOLD signal in the
hippocampus while viewing food pictures compared to non-food pictures; moreover, the signal
is modulated by hunger, craving and energy balance signals. This signal is also greater in
obese compared to lean individuals.
Thalamus
The thalamus is a sensory relay system. The hypothalamus is
involved in homeostasis and it is integrated with hormones. It
regulated energy intake regulation like hunger and thirst. The
hypothalamus is involved in the integration of neural and hormonal
signals. It is sensitive to glucose and to blood-borne hormones like
insulin, leptin, ghrelin, PYY, CCK and GLP-1. It is implicated in energy
intake regulation.
Amygdala
The amygdala means almond and it controls autonomic, emotional and sexual behaviour. We
have a left and a right amygdala. It is activated by fear and arousal (unpleasant as well as
pleasant). The amygdala helps couples to learn the meaning of cues and to adaptive responses.
It is located in the temporal lobe. The amygdala receives input from the sensory cortex (notably
visual, gustatory, and olfactory) and hypothalamus and thus acts as a centre for homeostatic-
hedonic interactions. It also plays an important role in emotional learning and assigning
incentive value to sensory stimuli such as food cues. In humans, fMRI meta-analyses reveal
consistent amygdala responses to gustatory and visual food cues. Without an intact amygdala,
the taste cortex is no longer able to encode the palatability of food cues.
Basal ganglia
The basal ganglia are involved in motor control and reward processing. The basal ganglia
consist of different areas; the striatum = putamen + pallidum + caudate. The striatum has a
dorsal and ventral striatum. The nucleus accumbens lies in the ventral striatum and is the
hedonic hotspot.
Spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system
We have 12 cranial nerves that are located in the peripheral nervous system in the spinal cord.
6
,The nervous system has two major subdivisions: the central nervous system (brain and the
spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (everything outside the CNS). The autonomic
nervous system consists of the parasympathetic (rest and digest/ maintenance, acetylcholine)
and the sympathetic nervous system (action, norepinephrine). The third one is the enteric
nervous system. In the peripheral nervous system, we have sensory perceptions for nutrient
sensing (cephalic phase responses). The most relevant nerves are the sensory nerves in the
head and the Vagus nerve (CN X).
Vision
Vision works through the Cranial nerve II which travels to the Thalamic nuclei to the Primary and
secondary visual cortex in the occipital, temporal and parietal lobe. Visual processing for
example attention is modulated by the frontal cortex à top-down control. When looking at
food, the information travels to the visual cortex à posterior insula à amygdala and
orbitofrontal cortex. Looking at food can be measured with eye tracking. There are also several
modulators like hunger, BMI and attention.
Olfaction
The anatomical organization of the olfactory pathway has several features that are unique
among our senses. First, the most frequently stated difference of the olfactory pathway is the
lack of a thalamic relay to transfer peripheral input into the brain. Second, whereas all other
senses project contralaterally from the sensory organs into the brain, the olfactory sense
projects ipsilaterally, i.e., the signal originating in the left nostril projects to the left hemisphere.
Third, the spatial organization of the olfactory system is much more dispersed than that of other
sensory systems. Whereas the primary cortical region in other senses typically consists of one
discrete cortical area, the primary olfactory cortex includes a set of structures, some of which
are subcortical. The secondary sensory cortex in other senses usually includes a cortical area
immediately adjacent to the primary sensory cortex.
Pathway
The olfactory sensory pathway starts with olfactory receptor cells where
volatile molecules activate receptors embedded in the olfactory mucosa at
the roof of the nasal cavity. From here, the olfactory signal projects via the
olfactory nerve (CN I) to the mitral cells within the olfactory bulb. The
signal travels further to the olfactory tract, the piriform cortex and the
orbitofrontal cortex (insula, amygdala, hippocampus, striatum, thalamus
and hypothalamus). There is a direct entry to the brain. The olfactory bulb
is located between the eye bulbs. It is unclear how the brain can distinguish orthonasal and
retronasal. A taste is the retronasal odour + taste + the trigeminal sensations.
Gustation
Gustation takes place on the tongue. It is used to identify substances which promote/ disrupt
homeostasis. The gustatory sense, or taste, consists of only 5 primary qualities, namely, sweet,
sour, salty, bitter, and umami or savoury (glutamate). Nevertheless, flavour sensations,
independent of whether they are mediated by an odour or a trigeminal stimulus, are almost
always perceived as a taste.
7
,Pathway
Taste perception begins with stimulation of the tongue, where there
are all kinds of papillae. The papillae contain taste buds which contain
taste receptor cells. The gustation works through the facial nerve
(CNVII), the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX) and the Vagus nerve (CN
X). The signal travels further to the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) in
the brainstem. From the brainstem the signal travels to the thalamus,
the anterior insula/ frontal operculum, the amygdala and the prefrontal
cortex.
Trigeminal sense
The trigeminal system is responsible for multiple facets of chemosensory perception, such as
burning, stinging, tingling, prickling, and itching, but also touch, pressure, and temperature
sensations. The face is innervated by the trigeminal nerve, which is the largest cranial nerve (CN
V).
Pathway
The trigeminal sense travels through the trigeminal nerve (CN V). The
signal travels to the brainstem, the thalamus, the somatosensory cortex,
the limbic system, the insula and the olfactory cortex.
Flavour
Flavour is a multimodal integration. For example, a sweet odour is the
odour that is associated with a sweet sense. Flavour is dependent on
taste, smell, sound, trigeminal, texture, appearance and temperature. The Vagus nerve (X)
innervates the mouth and the throat and the lower part goes to the GI tract, the liver and
kidneys. It is the Gut-brain highway.
Navigating the brain
The brain has grey and white matter. White matter is white, because
of myelin. Myelin is fatty which makes the white matter looks white.
Locations
Medial means near the midline and lateral
is near the outer edge. Dorsolateral/
superior means up and ventral/ inferior
means down. Caudal/ posterior means
back and rostral/ anterior
means front.
The blue parts on the right
are located ventromedial.
This is because the part is
near the midline (medial) and
it is in the lower part of the
brain (ventral).
8
, When slicing the brain, we have
transverse (axial), coronal and sagittal.
Sagittal is when you are splitting the
body without the limbs, coronal is
when you split the body with the limbs
and transverse is splitting through the
belly.
There are two common conventions. In
the radiological convention we look upward from the
feet and then the right side is seen as the left side. In the neurological convention we look
downward from the head (brain surgeon view) and then the right side is seen as the right side.
To prevent confusion, we use a marker (like a fatty vitamin pill to the left side of the brain).
Brain nomenclature options
Brodmann areas are classified by Korbinian Bordmann. He classified 52 areas on
cytoarchitecture based on appearance. There are also anatomical labels (inferior frontal gyrus),
anatomical locations (lateral prefrontal cortex) and the functional names (gustatory cortex).
When talking about brain areas we have a common reference. It is needed for pooling brains in
group analyses. The Talairach space is the reference founded by Jean Talairach. The reference
is based on the brain of one 60-year-old French woman. He made a 3D- system where he
added coordinates to. However, this space is based on the brain of 1 person. The MNI space
brain templates are based on average anatomical MRI’s of healthy right-handed volunteers.
Atlases are very useful but there are some notes. There is great interindividual variation for
example in the size of sulci and gryi. Every cortex is unique. This can be affected by many
factors. This can be fixed by using group specific MNI templates or by using a probability
atlas.
Gender and diet differences
Gender is a key factor that affects brain morphology and brain function. Greatest effects in
regions are affected by sex hormones during brain development. Several fMRI studies show the
effect of menstrual cycle/ sex hormones on food reward responses.
Diet is also a key factor that affects the brain. Diet high in trans-fat for example is associated with
lower total brain volume as well as lower cognitive performance in elderly. It is challenging to
determine specific effect of single nutrients and hard to study causality.
Lecture 3+4: Methods of measuring brain and behaviour
– MRI/ fMRI
- Understand and explain the basic physics of MRI
- Understand and explain the differences between MRI and functional MRI
9
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