Topic: food restriction

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a multifactorial mental disorder characterized by voluntary food restriction and excessive physical activity leading to dramatic weight loss. The Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor (BNDF) gene has been associated with AN. In rodents, both central and peripheral BDNF have been found to induce weight loss and anorexic effects. Thus, besides its function in neuronal development and mood, BDNF also acts as a metabolic regulator, making it a candidate biomarker for AN diagnosis. We used C57BL/6J female mice under 2-week 50% food restriction with access to running wheels to mi

Adequate regulation of innate behaviours is crucial for survival. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) forms the core of the neural circuitry driving these motivated behaviours. VTA dopamine (VTA-DA) neurons encode reward and reward-predicting cues heterogeneously. Moreover, individual neurons respond to different behavioural and kinematic variables. However, it remains unclear whether individual dopamine neurons respond to competing rewards like feeding and voluntary exercise heterogeneously. Additionally, it is unknown how motivational state changes, such as hunger or enhanced exercise drive, in

Stress is an adaptive mechanism that enables an optimal response to danger. However, chronic stress disrupts normal bodily functions and can lead to various disorders. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is involved in the regulation of stress responses. One of the output targets of the mPFC is the lateral hypothalamus (LH), a brain region that regulates innate behaviours known to be affected by stress. In this work, we analysed effects of optogenetic stimulation of mPFC inputs to LH on innate behaviours in freely behaving mice exposed to different stressors.Optogenetic stimulation of mPFC pro