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M Fantino

Publications and source records attributed to M Fantino.

50 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Effects of an overfeeding regimen--the affective component of the sweet sensation.

In some isolated parts of North Africa, there persists an ancient Berber custom of imposing an overfeeding regimen on young girls before marriage, to achieve an obesity which is regarded as aesthetically pleasing. We have studied the effect of such a regimen, lasting 12--16 weeks, on blood lipids and on the affective reactions to sweet tastes in nine subjects. It is known that the pleasantness of alimentary cues i.e., the feeding behaviour, depends on the subject's nutritional state. Only three subjects gained weight (by 3,5 and 8 kg), in spite of the strong pressure to overeat. No change in plasma lipid concentrations were observed. Nevertheless, at the end of the regimen every subject showed a highly significant decrease in the rated pleasantness of sweet stimuli when they were tested fasting. However, the reduction in sweet pleasantness induced by ingestion of a 200 ml load of 1.4 M glucose solution was not changed by the overfeeding. Thus, pressure to overfeed can reduce hunger, as seen in the attractiveness of sweet foods in fasted subjects, without modifying glucose-induced satiety.

Adult↗

[Histopathologic and neurochemical correlations as a function of lesions of the locus coeruleus region in the cat (I)].

Unilateral lesions in the area of the loci coeruleus and subcoeruleus in the cat are associated with a significant and sustained decrease of noradrenaline (NA) in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex without any important change in the concentrations of NA in the contralateral cortex and in the spinal cord of both sides. The serotonin (5-HT) concentrations of the spinal cord and cerebral cortex of both sides remained unchanged in the same groups of animals. Bilateral lesions in the same area result also in a marked decrease of NA in the cerebral cortex of both sides. The latter lesions also result in slight decreases of NA in the hypothalamus and of NA and 5-HT in the spinal cord but the NA and 5-HT concentrations of the striatum and thalamus and the 5-HT concentrations of the cerebral cortex and hypothalamus are unmodified by such lesions. Unilateral lesions of the area immediately rostral to the locus coeruleus (praelocus lesions) result in a very significant decrease of NA in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex without any change of NA in the contralateral cerebral cortex and spinal cord of both sides. Similar lesions produced bilaterally in another group of cats resulted in marked decreases of NA in the cerebral cortex of both sides and a slight decrease of NA in the thalamus without any change of NA in the striatum, hypothalamus and spinal cord and of 5-HT in the cerebral cortex. In the same group of animals with lesions which, however, extended more closely to the midline than in cats with locus coeruleus lesions, 5-HT is markedly decreased in the striatum and thalamus and slightly decreased in the hypothalamus and spinal cord. These results support the view that the noradrenergic coeruleo-cortical pathway is made up of fibers which originate in the loci coeruleus and subcoeruleus and predominantly end ipsilaterally to their origin in the cerebral cortex. Ascending NA fibers ending in the thalamus appear to originate from NA neurons located more laterally in the upper pons and more specifically at the level of the parabrachial nuclei.

Animals↗

[Initial assessment of a behavioural therapy anti-tobacco programme (author's transl)].

The principle of behavioural therapy was used in anti-tobacco treatment. An assessment of the first 100 patients is given here. From the beginning of treatment, which was individual and lasted for one week, the subjects, with three exceptions, stopped smoking between the treatment sessions. After treatment was completed, 93 subjects maintained this abstinence for at least 15 days; 74 patients have not started to smoke again, with a follow-up period ranging from 2 to 18 months. The degree of motivation of the patients would seem to be the only parameter related to relapse.

Adult↗

Role of sensory input in the control of food intake.

The role of the sensory input involved in the control of the food intake is briefly reviewed. Signals from mouth and throat, as well as signals from the gastrointestinal tract and the liver, are necessary but none of them are sufficient to induce satiation. The oral cues initiated by the food intake have a dual action on the feeding behavior. They first stimulate the intake in the hungry subjects. They sustain it until the amount of food ingested reaches the level necessary to equilibrate the energy balance. Finally, they participate, with the sensory input from the gastrointestinal tract, in the process inhibiting the food intake. The hedonic hypothesis of the food intake control is an attempt to explain this dual action of the peripheral alimentary analyzer in this homeostatic behavior. It was proposed that the alimentary pleasure or displeasure brought by alimentary stimuli acts as a drive for the food intake behavior. Indeed, in normal human subjects, the affective component of the alimentary sensations is not constant, but depends on the subjects' internal state. From pleasant, in subjects requiring some energy supply for long-term or short-term energy regulation, alimentary sensations become less pleasant or unpleasant in satiated subjects or in overfed subjects. This change of the affective component of a peripheral sensation, according to the internal state, was called: negative alimentary alliesthesia. Alliesthesia is a specific and reproducible phenomenon. It has been shown that the internal signal which induces negative alimentary alliesthesia depends on the carbohydrate concentration into the gastrointestinal tract, mainly into the duodenum. This signal may provide information related to the energy content of the ingested food. The neural or humoral nature of the transmission of this information from the gut to the brain is discussed. A neural link possibly involves the enteric glucidoreceptors recently described. In conclusion, the validity and the limits of the hedonic hypothesis of the food intake is briefly discussed.

Affect↗