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You are when you eat

Nature Neuroscience volume 9, pages 300–302 (2006)Cite this article

The suprachiasmatic nucleus is the main circadian pacemaker. Another oscillator entrains behavior to food availability, but its location has been a mystery. A new study suggests the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus as a possibility.

You may have noticed that your dog or cat—or perhaps your child—tends to hang around in anticipation of an upcoming meal. Is there one spot in the brain or body responsible for this anticipation of daily mealtimes? In this issue, Gooley and colleagues1 identify the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH) as critical for synchronizing daily behavioral and physiological rhythms with expected mealtime in rats. The fewer cells a rat has in its DMH, the less likely it is to show up for breakfast.

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Figure 1: Control of circadian rhythms by specific brain regions.

Debbie Maizels

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, 63119, Missouri, USA

    Erik D Herzog

  2. Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Biology and Pharmacology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, 63110, Missouri, USA

    Louis J Muglia

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  1. Erik D Herzog
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  2. Louis J Muglia
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Herzog, E., Muglia, L. You are when you eat. Nat Neurosci 9, 300–302 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0306-300

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