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Fidgeting brain keeps you lean

14 August 2006
by Richard Conan-Davies

Fidgeting and other restless behaviors that consume calories may be hard wired into brains according to research by the American Physiological Society. Using specially bred rats, the researchers discovered that orexin A stimulates appetite and physical activity such as fidgeting and other unconscious movements. The lean rats had a far greater expression of orexin receptors in the hypothalamus compared to rats bred to be obese. "The greater expression of orexin receptors suggests the lean rats' brains were more sensitive to the orexin the brain produces," said Catherine M. Kotz, the study's senior researcher. "The results point to a biological basis for being a couch potato." Minor unconscious movements such as fidgeting and other behaviors associated with restlessness burn calories and help control weight, Kotz explained to the American Physiological Society.

Fidgeting seems to rely on more receptors in the brain for orexin A. This can help mice and possibly people leaner by helping burning calories.   It would be impossible to do a similar study of the brain in humans. But one of the researchers, James Levine, found in a previous study with humans that lean individuals move about two hours per day more than obese individuals. What does this mean for those who are overweight? "If we can get obese individuals to a slightly higher level of activity, that would be very beneficial," Kotz concluded.

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