Inactivity linked to a decreased motivation in obese mice

So much research has been completed to find the magic bullet for the cause of obesity and this study is no different.  I found the study after reading an article on Science Daily entitled “Inactivity in obese mice linked to a decreased motivation to move“[1].   Most of you are reading the title of this post or even the article on Science Daily and you are probably thinking “duh.”   The concept of obese mice being less motivated to be active is really a no-brainer, but the discovery that the mice are less motivated is not the interesting part of the study.  

The study behind the research was published in 2017​[2]​.   It was completed in two groups of mice that had different forms of a dopamine receptor.  The group with the D2 receptor became less motivated to exercise as they gained weight.  The decreased motivation is not the cause of the weight gain, but it did exacerbate the gain.  Even though the D2 mice were less active, they were not more vulnerable to diet-induced weight gain than control mice.