Which part of the hypothalamus is responsible for fullness and stopping eating?

• A. Lateral hypothalamus
• B. Set point
• C. Ventromedial hypothalamus
• D. Ostracism

Answer: (C)

The ventromedial hypothalamus acts as the satiety center, signaling fullness and helping you stop eating. When this area is active, it reduces meal size and termination of a meal occurs more readily; damage to it can lead to overeating and obesity because the signal to stop eating is weakened. In contrast, the lateral hypothalamus is associated with hunger and promoting feeding, so its activation drives eating. The set point is a regulatory idea about target body weight rather than a specific brain region, and ostracism isn’t related to hypothalamic control of eating. So the part responsible for fullness and stopping eating is the ventromedial hypothalamus.