Scientists have revealed a key brain circuit that causes mice to eat uncontrollably.
Garret Stuber at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and his colleagues manipulated a precise set of brain cells using optogenetics — a technology that lets scientists control neurons by shining light into living brains (pictured). The neurons that they studied connect two brain areas: the lateral hypothalamus, which is involved in eating behaviour, and the BNST, which collects input on 'motivational states' such as hunger and thirst.
When these neurons were activated, well-fed mice began to gorge and showed a marked preference for high-calorie food. When the cells were inhibited, even mice that were previously deprived of food refrained from eating.
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Hunger neurons hunted out. Nature 502, 8 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/502008a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/502008a
