Regulation of Energy Balance and Body Weight by the Brain: A Distributed System Prone to Disruption

The central nervous system control of energy balance is a multidetermined process involving a distributed network of communication between various brain regions and the body. The brain continuously receives and processes internal signals of energy availability and in turn issues autonomic and behavioral output commands. Environmental, emotional, rewarding, and learned factors influence the brain's perception of these signals and ultimately promote behaviors that drive the system to conserve energy and ingest energy-dense foods in excess. This article discusses the energy balance system under normal physiologic conditions and the processes that have evolutionarily developed to promote energy surplus.