Neural circuitry underlying cue-induced feeding

 描述(申请人提供)：肥胖症发病率的上升在美国是一个巨大的健康问题，与许多相关的健康问题有关，包括糖尿病和心脏病，并通过相关的医疗费用造成巨大的经济负担。肥胖是一种多因素疾病，环境因素在喂养行为的动机中起着很大作用。虽然已知环境线索可以通过巴甫洛夫机制加强摄食，但这种现象背后的神经回路尚未得到系统分析。这项提议试图通过使用一种 条件线索诱导摄食(CIF)任务。第一个具体目标是使用功能磁共振成像(FMRI)和即刻早期基因(IEG)定位来描述线索诱导喂养过程中涉及的大脑区域。第二个具体目标是确定激活神经元的遗传特性，并从光遗传学和化学遗传学上沉默和/或激活这些神经元。这里描述的研究将阐明导致肥胖的喂养行为背后的神经回路，并可能为潜在的治疗方法提供切入点。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The rising incidence of obesity is a huge health concern in the United States, is associated with a number of related health problems including diabetes and heart disease and is an enormous economic burden through associated healthcare costs. Obesity is a multifactorial disease, and environmental factors play a large role in motivating of feeding behavior. Although it is known that environmental cues can potentiate feeding through Pavlovian mechanisms, the neural circuitry underlying this phenomenon has not yet been systematically analyzed. This proposal seeks to identify this neural circuitry using a conditioned cue- induced feeding (CIF) task. The first specific aim is to characterize the brain regions involved during cue- induced feeding using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and immediate early gene (IEG) mapping. The second specific aim is to identify the genetic identity of activated neurons and to optogenetically and chemogenetically silence and/or activate those neurons. The research described here will shed light on the neural circuitry underlying feeding behaviors that lead to obesity and may provide entry points for potential therapeutics.