Annotated Bibliography

[1] Binder, Devin K., and Helen E. Scharfman. Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor.
Growth factors (Chur, Switzerland) 22.3 (2004): 123131. PMC. Web. 27 Nov. 2017.

This review article gives an overview of brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

Covered in this review article is information relevant to its overall function in the
brain; such as its protein structure, role in various diseases, pain, learning,
neurogenesis, development, location, transport, and gene regulation. The primary
articles gave details BDNF in the context of the mesolimbic system. However, I
used this review article to find background information on BDNF to provide a big
picture understanding of what BDNF is. I was able to identify structures that
BDNF has been studied in, illustrate studies that have altered BDNF, and its
general function. Devin Binder is a Neurological Surgeon at the Moffitt Hospital
and affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco. Helen Scharfman
works at the Center for Neural Recovery and Rehabilitation Research at the Helen
Hayes Hospital in New York and is part of the Pharmacology and Neurology
Departments of Columbia University.

[2] Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. Neurowiki 2014, University of Toronto ,

neurowiki2014.wikidot.com/individual:brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor.

This academic wikipedia page associated with the University of Toronto is an

overview of BDNF. It covers the expression and structure of the protein,
pathways in the central nervous system that involve BDNF, looks at its expression
with exercise, summarizes BDNF role in learning and memory and looks at
potential BDNF therapies. I used a figure illustrating a cascade downstream of
BDNF and its receptor TrkB. I used this figure with the intention of having a
visual representation of BDNF and its receptor. This figure is included in the
background section so that readers can visualize the lock-and-key mechanism of
the protein with its receptor. As this was a wikipedia page, I did not reply on this
source for information on BDNF.

[3] Cordeira, J. W., et al. Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Regulates Hedonic Feeding by
Acting on the Mesolimbic Dopamine System. Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 30, no. 7,
2010, pp. 25332541., doi:10.1523/neuropsihici.5768-09.2010.

This primary article explores BDNF in the mesolimbic dopamine system and
investiagte the effects on hedonic feeding. In this article, the authors show that
BDNF depletion results in an increase in food consumption and obesity. They
 used this phenomenon to propose and illustrate that BDNF could be involved in
the mesolimbic system since the mesolimbic system has been shown to be closely
related to the food reward system. The article also establishes that consumption of
high fat foods influences BDNF expression in parts of the mesolimbic system.
The authors then conducted amperometric recording of the NAc to measure the
evoked responses from stimulating the VTA in brain slices of BDNF-mutant and
wild type mice. The authors also explore that stimulating dopamine receptors
normalize intake of high fat foods which was increased by a BDNF depletion. I
used the article for all the information described. The experiment with
amperometric recordings was my main interest to establish that BDNF affects
dopamine levels in the mesolimbic system since lower dopamine releases in the
mesolimbic system is characteristic of obesity and food addiction. I use figures
from this experiment to illustrate the results and assay. There are no illustrations
of the experimental set up so I created my own using their description of the
methods. The main author, JW Cordeira is a part of the Neuroscience Department
of Tufts University School of Medicine.

[4] Egecioglu, Emil, et al. Hedonic and incentive signals for body weight control.
SpringerLink, Springer US, 22 Feb. 2011, doi.org/10.1007/s11154-011-9166-4.

This review article looks the reward system in the brain in respect to regulation of
body weight between healthy individuals and those suffering from obesity.
Additionally, the article looks at the interaction between homeostatic and hedonic
control of food intake in both groups. This article has a lot of information on
normal food reward and food reward in those with obesity. Food reward is broken
down in detail to discuss specifics like dopamine and mu-opioid receptors. In
addition, the article ties metabolic hormones, like ghrelin and leptin, to food
reward and neurological patterns. Figure 1 in this article is used in my background
information on hedonic versus homeostatic definitions. The first author on the
review article is Emil Egecioglu who was a Senior Research Scientist at Lund
University, in Sweden, at the time of the articles publication and is now a
Toxicologist at Novo Nordisk in Denmark. The last author on the review article is
Suzanne L Dickson who is a professor at the University of Gothenburg in
Sweden; she focuses on neurobiological research of appetite and ghrelin.

[5] Meye, Frank J., and Roger A.h. Adan. Feelings about food: the ventral tegmental area in
food reward and emotional eating. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, vol. 35, no. 1,
2014, pp. 3140., doi:10.1016/j.tips.2013.11.003.
 This review article discusses the ventral tegmental areas in the context of driving
the consumption of palatable foods beyond homeostatic needs. The article
characterizes the hedonic feeding and its importance in being researched. It also
looks at the mesolimbic dopamine reward system and its role with stress-and-cue
induced feeding, and discusses potential anti-obesity drug targets. I used this
review article for background information on hedonic feeding so I could put
together a clear definition to communicate the importance of discussing hedonic
eating when looking at obesity and food addiction. Frank Meye is associated with
the Universit Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France. Roger Adan is part of the
Translational Neuroscience Department at the University Medical Center Utrecht
in the Netherlands.

[6] Neuroscientifically Challenged. 2-Minute Neuroscience: Dopamine. YouTube, YouTube, 9

Feb. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL51iPCovXo.
This YouTube clip is created by a channel called Neuroscientifically
Challenged and has over 2.5 million views. The channel has many, well-
explained, overviews of brain areas and systems. This video gave a quick
description on the neurotransmitter, dopamine. I utilized this video as it helped to
provide background information for this project. The language and format of the
video is easy to follow and engaging.

[7] Neuroscientifically Challenged. 2-Minute Neuroscience: Nucleus Accumbens. YouTube,

YouTube, 20 Oct. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_zgB19TE-M.

This YouTube clip is created by a channel called Neuroscientifically

Challenged and has over 2.5 million views. The channel has many, well-
explained, overviews of brain areas and systems. This video gave a quick
description on the nucleus accumbens I utilized this video as it helped to provide
background information for this project. The language and format of the video is
easy to follow and engaging.

[8] Neuroscientifically Challenged. 2-Minute Neuroscience: Reward System. YouTube,

YouTube, 13 Feb. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7E0mTJQ2KM.

This YouTube clip is created by a channel called Neuroscientifically

Challenged and has over 2.5 million views. The channel has many, well-
 explained, overviews of brain areas and systems. This video gave a quick
description on the reward system. I utilized this video as the first half helped to
provide background information for this project. The language and format of the
video is easy to follow and engaging.

[9] Neuroscientifically Challenged. 2-Minute Neuroscience: Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA).

YouTube, YouTube, 5 Oct. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t1EsfhPBTk.
This YouTube clip is created by a channel called Neuroscientifically
Challenged and has over 2.5 million views. The channel has many, well-
explained, overviews of brain areas and systems. This video gave a quick
description on the reward system. I utilized this video as the first half helped to
provide background information for this project. The language and format of the
video is easy to follow and engaging.

[10] The Pleasure Centres. The Brain From Top to Bottom,

thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_03/d_03_cr/d_03_cr_que/d_03_cr_que.html.

This webpage describes the reward circuit in a quick overview. Covered on this
brief article is the role that the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens and
dopamine play in the mesolimbic pathway. On this page, is a figure of a human
brain with the VTA and NAc pointed out. The information on this page is broad
and meant as a quick introduction into the system. I used the figure on this
webpage for the illustration of where the VTA and NAc are located in relation to
one another in the human brain. I did not use the content on this article for my
research. No author is listed.

[11] Volkow, N. D., et al. Obesity and addiction: neurobiological overlaps. Obesity Reviews,
vol. 14, no. 1, 2012, pp. 218., doi:10.1111/j.1467-789x.2012.01031.x.

This review article investigates the parallels between obesity and drug addiction.
In addition, it establishes that food can be as addicting as drug and the
mechanisms of food addiction are seen in obese individuals. The article
establishes that food and drugs are powerful rewards and are reinforced through
dopamine increases in reward centers of the brain. The review article illustrates
that both obese individuals and drug-addicts share impaired dopamine pathways
that are involved in reward, motivation, and self-control and how this can override
homeostatic signals. I use this article in the background section of my project.
The content of this article helped me to establish the existing connections made
between addictions of food and drugs, to illustrate the severity of food addiction.
In addition, I used this source to communicate that there is evidence that obese
 individuals have impaired dopaminergic pathways. The first author, ND Volkow
is a part of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Maryland.

[12] Wu, Chun, et al. Altered Dopamine Synaptic Markers in Postmortem Brain of Obese
Subjects. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 11, Mar. 2017,
doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00386.

This primary article is amongst the first to look at human brains for dopamine
dysregulation in obese individuals postmortem. In this article the authors find that
changes in presynaptic dopamine markers support the connection between
hypofunction of dopamine on hedonic feeding and obesity in humans. This
primary article supports the evidence that obese rats exhibit less dopamine release
into the NAc following food intake and that dopamine hypofunction is
characteristic of hedonic irregularities and obesity in animal subjects. Also
explored is the difference in dopamine receptor expression and dopamine
transporters in obese and normal weight subjects. I used this primary article in my
background on drug and food addiction. I also use content from this primary
article to establish that dopamine hypofunction in the mesolimbic system is an
important contributor to obesity. Moreover, I use this source to explain how food
can be addicting; moreover, food intake induces releases of dopamine and can
thus be a reinforcer. The first author Chun Wu is a part of the Department of
Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at the Miller School of Medicine in Miami.
The second and third authors, Susanna Garamszegi and Xiaobin Xie, is a part of
the Department of Neurology at the Miller School of Medicine. The last author,
Deborah Mash, is a part of of both departments at the Miller School of Medicine.