Rapid binge-like eating and body weight gain driven by zona incerta GABA neuron activation

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 356; no. 6340; pp. 853 - 859
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xiaobing, van den Pol, Anthony N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 26.05.2017; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Ablation; Animals; Axons; Axons - metabolism; Body weight; Body weight gain; Brain; Bulimia; Bulimia - physiopathology; Deprivation; Diet, High-Fat; Dietary restrictions; Eating; Eating - physiology; Eating behavior; Eating disorders; Eating Habits; Feeding; Feeding behavior; Feeding Behavior - physiology; Food; Food Deprivation; Food intake; Food Preferences - physiology; Foods; GABAergic Neurons - physiology; Gain; Ghrelin; Ghrelin - metabolism; Glutamic Acid - metabolism; Hunger; Hunger - physiology; Mice; Neurons; Nuclei; Obesity; Optogenetics; Philosophy; Post-Synaptic Density - metabolism; Presynaptic Terminals - metabolism; Projection; Rodents; Stimulation; Thalamus; Thalamus - cytology; Thalamus - physiology; Weight Gain - physiology; Weight reduction; Zona incerta; Zona Incerta - cytology; Zona Incerta - physiology; γ-Aminobutyric acid

The neuronal substrate for binge eating, which can at times lead to obesity, is not clear. We find that optogenetic stimulation of mouse zona incerta (ZI) γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons or their axonal projections to paraventricular thalamus (PVT) excitatory neurons immediately (in 2 to 3 second...