Research Strongpoint: "Selfish Brain" Theory and Obesity
In 1998 Achim Peters formulated the basic model of the “Selfish Brain" Theory as well as its axioms. His explanation of the Selfish Brain" theory (2004) was based on approx. 5000 published data records from classical endocrinology-diabetology and the modern neurosciences, but argued from both a mathematical standpoint using differential equations, and from a system theoretical standpoint. This represented a completely new methodological approach, even a paradigm shift for obesity research and diabetology.
The "Selfish Brain" theory states that the human brain during allocation of the organism’s energy supply covers its own comparably high needs with the highest priority. The brain behaves selfishly in this respect. In the cerebral hemispheres, the integrating organ of the entire central nervous system, the theory introduces a feedback loop of an “Energy on Demand" system that keeps the ATP concentration in the nerve cells of the brain at an appropriate level. This goal is achieved in healthy individuals by allocating (diverting) energy from the body.
The "Selfish Brain" theory represents a further development of already existing theories on the organization of the energy supply within the human organism. Blood sugar and fat deposition feedback systems constitute a complex system for regulating the intake of nutrients which is controlled by a hypothalamic center. The "Energy on demand” system for energy supply to the brain is seen as a supraordinate instance of this setup, which exerts control over the organs that regulate the blood sugar and fat feedback loops.
The origin of obesity (severe and diseased form of overweight) is explained by the "Selfish Brain” theory as an allocation defect. Instead of requesting energy from the body, energy is added by consuming foodstuffs. This results in an energy accumulation in the supply chain, a chain that leads from the environment through the body up to the brain as the end consumer. The possible causes underlying this are localized in impairments of the amygdala, the hippocampus or the hypothalamus. i.e. brain areas that control blood glucose and fat feedback loops and which for various reasons can not correctly process the signals from the cerebral hemispheres for controlling the energy supply of the brain.
The "Selfish Brain" theory has been reinforced in central aspects by the DFG supported Clinical Research Group "Selfish Brain: brain glucose and metabolic syndrome" using experiments carried out on both healthy and diseased test subjects.
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