When we eat chips, ice creams or chocolates, we easily end up eating more than one. Now, a team of Japanese researchers have identified the role a gene plays in stimulating the brain, causing people to overeat. 

Recently, it became clear that a gene called CREB-Regulated Transcription Coactivator 1 (CRTC1) is associated with obesity in humans.

When CRTC1 is deleted in mice, they become obese, indicating that functioning CRTC1 suppresses obesity.

However, since CRTC1 is expressed in all neurons in the brain, the specific neurons responsible for suppressing obesity and the mechanism present in those neurons remained unknown, according to the study published in the FASEB Journal.

To understand the mechanism by which CRTC1 suppresses obesity, a research group led by associate professor Shigenobu Matsumura from Osaka Metropolitan University focused on neurons expressing the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R).

They hypothesised that CRTC1 expression in MC4R-expressing neurons suppressed obesity because mutations in the MC4R gene are known to cause obesity.