Control of feeding by a bottom-up midbrain-subthalamic pathway

Exploratory investigation and foraging behaviors, crucial yet poorly understood, are regulated by GABAergic inputs to the lateral and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (l/vlPAG). Reis et al. (2024) investigated the role of vgat-expressing GABAergic l/vlPAG cells in these behaviors. They found that they encode food approach and consumption, including both live prey and non-prey foods, in mice. The activity of these cells is essential for initiating food-seeking, leading to subsequent consumption, and promoting exploratory foraging and compulsive eating without affecting defensive behaviors. Additionally, l/vlPAG vgat cells are interconnected bidirectionally with various nodes involved in feeding, exploration, and investigation, such as the zona incerta. Notably, the projection from vgat l/vlPAG cells to the zona incerta regulates the approach towards food, leading to consumption bidirectionally. These findings suggest that the PAG serves as a downstream target of top-down exploration and foraging-related inputs and influences these behaviors through a bottom-up pathway. [NPID: Dietary behaviors, exploration, foraging, GABAergic cells, food consumption, zona incerta]

Year: 2024

Reference: Reis, F. M. C. V., Maesta-Pereira, S., Ollivier, M., Schuette, P. J., Sethi, E., Miranda, B. A., Iniguez, E., Chakerian, M., Vaughn, E., Sehgal, M., Nguyen, D. C. T., Yuan, F. T. H., Torossian, A., Ikebara, J. M., Kihara, A. H., Silva, A. J., Kao, J. C., Khakh, B. S., & Adhikari, A. (2024). Control of feeding by a bottom-up midbrain-subthalamic pathway. Nature Communications, 15(1), 2111. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46430-5