NRSC0090 - Your Brain on Food

What motivates us to eat? Why do many of us eat even in the absence of hunger? How do our food preferences and habits form? And how can eating transition from regulated to dysregulated? This seminar class investigates these questions and many others, with a focus on how our brains regulate food intake. We will explore the neuroscience behind eating, as well as the genetic, psychological, social, cultural, and societal influences that shape our behavior. Through readings, assignments, and class discussions, we will navigate the biological forces behind normal eating, as well as how eating becomes disordered in diseases like obesity and eating disorders. Through this course, students will learn about behavioral neuroscience research from human and animal studies and will develop critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. There are no prerequisites except for a love of food.