Autonomic Control of Body Weight and Feeding

拟议的项目继续对摄食和身体的神经机制进行程序性研究。 体重控制。该项目的长期目标是提供治疗消化不良所需的信息。 疾病，特别是肥胖和各种胃肠道(Gl)疾病。迷走神经是主要的 神经通路相互连接大脑和Gl区。迷走神经感觉和运动轴突 协调大部分能量动态平衡的生理学，包括短期和长期控制 摄入量和体重。令人惊讶的是，鉴于迷走神经的关键重要性，许多神经的 与充分理解摄取特别相关的结构和功能特征目前还 未被描述。因此，该项目的直接目标是进行一系列有希望的分析，这些分析是 表征连接迷走神经的迷走神经投射的形态类型、区域分布和功能 脑和胆总管。第一个具体目标是描述和映射不同的迷走神经和其他内脏- 胃里的感官末梢。第二个具体目标是描述和绘制迷走神经和其他 肠道内的内脏--感觉末梢。前两个目标的实验将使用最近改编的 神经示踪剂协议，提供化学、机械、渗透和热疗的清单和地图。 第三个目标是表征和映射不同的迷走神经运动投射到 胃肠道。这第三系列实验将使用示踪剂来生成发动机的清单和地图 大脑协调G1功能的投射。最终目的是评估摄入的变化。 与Gl束神经支配的选择性结构变化相关的行为。的实验。 这一目标将在动物模型中使用结构-功能相关性，涉及迷走神经横断和 再生，由选择性突变产生的迷走神经损失，以及胃和 十二指肠。这些目标与开发肥胖症和其他代谢疾病的治疗方法密切相关 消化系统疾病。拟议中的实验将产生更充足的神经科学基础 完善肥胖手术(例如，搭桥和心脏起搏器植入)，现在主要通过试验和 错误，以及用于治疗进食障碍、反流性疾病、 肠易激综合征、消化性溃疡、自主神经病变和内脏疼痛。

The proposed project continues a programmatic investigation of the neural mechanisms of feeding and body weight regulation. The long-range goal of the project is to provide information needed for treating ingestive disorders, notably obesity, and a variety of gastrointestinal (Gl)diseases. The vagus nerve is the major neural pathway reciprocally connecting the brain and the Gl tract. Vagal sensory and motor axons coordinate much of the physiology of energy homeostasis, including both short-term and long-term controls of ingestion and body weight. Surprisingly, given the crucial importance of the vagus, many of the nerve's structural and functional features particularly relevant to an adequate understanding of ingestion are as yet undescribed. Thus, the immediate goal of the project is to conduct a series of promising analysesthat are characterizing the morphological types, regional distributions, and functions of vagal projections that link the brain and Gl tract. The first specific aim is to characterize and map the different vagal~and other visceral- sensory endings in the stomach. The second specific aim is to describe and map the vagal-and other visceral-sensory endings in the intestines. The experiments of these first two aims will use recently adapted neural tracer protocols to provide inventories of, and maps for, the chemo-, mechano-, osmo-, and thermo- receptors throughout the gut.The third aim is to characterize and map different vagal motor projections to the Gl tract. This third series of experiments will use tracers to yield an inventory of, and maps for,the motor projections by which the brain coordinates Gl functions. The final aim is to evaluate alterations in ingestive behavior associated with selective structural changes in the innervation of the Gl tract. The experiments of this aim will use structure-function correlations in animal models involving vagus nerve transections and regeneration, vagal losses produced by selective mutations, and surgical manipulations of the stomach and duodenum. The aims are critically relevant to developing treatments for obesity and other metabolic and digestive diseases. The proposed experiments will generate a more adequate neuroscience foundation for refining obesity surgeries (e.g., bypasses and pacemaker implants), now designed primarily through trial and error, and other interventions of the Gl tract that are used in the treatment of eating disorders, reflux disease, irritable bowel syndrome, peptic ulcers, autonomic neuropathies, and visceral pain.