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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #354466
Title: A neural basis for antagonistic control of feeding and compulsive behaviors

Author
item MANGIERI, LEANDRA - University Of Texas Health Science Center
item LU, YUNGANG - University Of Texas Health Science Center
item XU, YUANZHONG - University Of Texas Health Science Center
item CASSIDY, RYAN - University Of Texas Health Science Center
item XU, YONG - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item ARENKIEL, BENJAMIN - Baylor College Of Medicine
item TONG, QINGCHUN - University Of Texas Health Science Center

Submitted to: Nature Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/7/2017
Publication Date: 1/4/2018
Citation: Mangieri, L.R., Lu, Y., Xu, Y., Cassidy, R.M., Xu, Y., Arenkiel, B.R., Tong, Q. 2018. A neural basis for antagonistic control of feeding and compulsive behaviors. Nature Communications. 9(1):52. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02534-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02534-9

Interpretive Summary: Obesity is a serious global health problem which results partially from abnormal feeding behavior. The brain controls feeding behavior and other complex behaviors (e.g. compulsive behaviors) to maintain normal energy balance, but the detailed mechanisms are not fully understood. Here we showed that neurons in a particular brain region, called lateral hypothalamus, can coordinate feeding and compulsive behaviors using distinct neura signals. These findings suggested that the lateral hypothalamus could be a potential target for treatment of obesity

Technical Abstract: Abnormal feeding often co-exists with compulsive behaviors, but the underlying neural basis remains unknown. Excessive self-grooming in rodents is associated with compulsivity. Here, we show that optogenetically manipulating the activity of lateral hypothalamus (LH) projections targeting the paraventricular hypothalamus (PVH) differentially promotes either feeding or repetitive self-grooming. Whereas selective activation of GABAergic LH-PVH inputs induces feeding, activation of glutamatergic inputs promotes self-grooming. Strikingly, targeted stimulation of GABAergic LH-PVH leads to rapid and reversible transitions to feeding from induced intense self-grooming, while activating glutamatergic LH-PVH or PVH neurons causes rapid and reversible transitions to self-grooming from voracious feeding induced by fasting. Further, specific inhibition of either LH-PVH GABAergic action or PVH neurons reduces self-grooming induced by stress. Thus, we have uncovered a parallel LH-PVH projection circuit for antagonistic control of feeding and self-grooming through dynamic modulation of PVH neuron activity, revealing a common neural pathway that underlies feeding and compulsive behaviors.