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Developmental programming of the hypothalamus: a matter of fat

Nature Medicine volume 12, pages 52–53 (2006)Cite this article

The influence of hormones on the development of brain circuits has long been recognized. A recent study shows that leptin has a similar effect on the emergence of feeding pathways. There might therefore be a crucial window during which a subject's basal metabolic phenotype can be altered.

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Figure 1: The cell bodies of the two components of the central melanocortin system reside in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of the hypothalamus.

Simon Fenwick

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Comparative Medicine and the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, 06519, Connecticut, USA

    Tamas L Horvath

  2. Department of Mouse Genetics and Metabolism, Institute for Genetics and Center for Molecular Medicine, University of Cologne, Koln, 50674, Germany

    Jens C Bruning

Authors
  1. Tamas L Horvath
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  2. Jens C Bruning
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Horvath, T., Bruning, J. Developmental programming of the hypothalamus: a matter of fat. Nat Med 12, 52–53 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0106-52

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