Identification of a neurocircuit underlying regulation of feeding by stress-related emotional responses

Yuanzhong Xu, Yungang Lu, Ryan M. Cassidy, Leandra R. Mangieri, Canjun Zhu, Xugen Huang, Zhiying Jiang, Nicholas J. Justice, Yong Xu, Benjamin R. Arenkiel and Qingchun Tong ()
Additional contact information
Yuanzhong Xu: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas McGovern Medical School
Yungang Lu: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas McGovern Medical School
Ryan M. Cassidy: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas McGovern Medical School
Leandra R. Mangieri: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas McGovern Medical School
Canjun Zhu: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas McGovern Medical School
Xugen Huang: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas McGovern Medical School
Zhiying Jiang: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas McGovern Medical School
Nicholas J. Justice: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas McGovern Medical School
Yong Xu: Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza
Benjamin R. Arenkiel: Baylor College of Medicine
Qingchun Tong: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas McGovern Medical School

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Feeding is known to be profoundly affected by stress-related emotional states and eating disorders are comorbid with psychiatric symptoms and altered emotional responses. The neural basis underlying feeding regulation by stress-related emotional changes is poorly understood. Here, we identify a novel projection from the paraventricular hypothalamus (PVH) to the ventral lateral septum (LSv) that shows a scalable regulation on feeding and behavioral changes related to emotion. Weak photostimulation of glutamatergic PVH→LSv terminals elicits stress-related self-grooming and strong photostimulation causes fear-related escape jumping associated with respective weak and strong inhibition on feeding. In contrast, inhibition of glutamatergic inputs to LSv increases feeding with signs of reduced anxiety. LSv-projecting neurons are concentrated in rostral PVH. LSv and LSv-projecting PVH neurons are activated by stressors in vivo, whereas feeding bouts were associated with reduced activity of these neurons. Thus, PVH→LSv neurotransmission underlies dynamic feeding by orchestrating emotional states, providing a novel neural circuit substrate underlying comorbidity between eating abnormalities and psychiatric disorders.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-11399-z Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-11399-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11399-z

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().