Freshman class

Food for thought

Gorica D. Petrovich, assistant professor of psychology

Ph.D., University of Southern California

Representative publication: "Control of Food Consumption by Learned Cues: A Forebrain-Hypothalamic Network," Physiology & Behavior

My research program investigates the neurobiology of motivation and feeding behavior. Eating is not only regulated by metabolic signals, but also by factors that are not related to energy balance, such as environmental cues, stress, emotion, learning, and memory. Notably, in Western and other developed countries, we are bombarded by images and messages that provide cues for food. These omnipresent cues modulate appetite and food consumption, and could contribute to eating disorders. Very little is known about the underlying neural mechanisms.

My long-term research goal is to elucidate functional organization of the brain systems that allow integration of external cues with homeostatic signals, specifically, how basic hunger mechanisms can be influenced by learning and stress. A related goal is to investigate plasticity within these networks, mediated by environment and experience under normal circumstances, and in settings relevant to eating disorders.