Research paper
Berthoud HR. The vagus nerve, food intake and obesity. Regulatory Peptides. 2008;149(1-3):15-25. doi:10.1016/j.regpep.2007.08.024. PMID: 18482776.
Why we cite it
Comprehensive review of how the vagus nerve communicates food-related information from the gut, pancreas, and liver to the brain, mapping the full chain from peripheral sensors (mechanoreceptors, chemoreceptors, hormone receptors) through brainstem integration to forebrain modulation. Relevant to this project because it explains why satiety is a real physiological signal — not just willpower — and how the gut literally talks to the brain via the vagus nerve to regulate meal size, making this foundational for understanding why eating slowly, chewing well, and allowing time for gut signals to reach the brain all matter.
About the author
Hans-Rudolf Berthoud, PhD, is the George H. Bray Professor of Neuroscience and Head of the Neurobiology of Nutrition Laboratory at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System; PhD in Physiology and Behavior from ETH Zurich (1973); postdoctoral training at the University of Western Ontario and University of Geneva; over 230 publications; D-index 74 with ~17,000 citations; Acting President of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behaviour (SSIB); Co-Executive Editor of Appetite (2008–2014); Associate Editor of Gastroenterology (2016–2022). His laboratory employs behavioural, neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and electrophysiological approaches to map neural circuits from gut to brain.
DOI: 10.1016/j.regpep.2007.08.024 · PubMed 18482776 · Publisher