1. Negative feedback control of hypothalamic feeding circuits by the taste of food.
- Author
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Aitken TJ, Liu Z, Ly T, Shehata S, Sivakumar N, La Santa Medina N, Gray LA, Zhang J, Dundar N, Barnes C, and Knight ZA
- Subjects
- Animals, Mice, Eating physiology, Optogenetics, Feedback, Physiological physiology, Hunger physiology, Male, Agouti-Related Protein metabolism, Taste physiology, Hypothalamus physiology, Feeding Behavior physiology, Neurons physiology
- Abstract
The rewarding taste of food is critical for motivating animals to eat, but whether taste has a parallel function in promoting meal termination is not well understood. Here, we show that hunger-promoting agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons are rapidly inhibited during each bout of ingestion by a signal linked to the taste of food. Blocking these transient dips in activity via closed-loop optogenetic stimulation increases food intake by selectively delaying the onset of satiety. We show that upstream leptin-receptor-expressing neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH
LepR ) are tuned to respond to sweet or fatty tastes and exhibit time-locked activation during feeding that is the mirror image of downstream AgRP cells. These findings reveal an unexpected role for taste in the negative feedback control of ingestion. They also reveal a mechanism by which AgRP neurons, which are the primary cells that drive hunger, are able to influence the moment-by-moment dynamics of food consumption., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)- Published
- 2024
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