Hypothalamic cell types and circuits that drive behaviors essential for survival
Embargo until
2019-05-01
Date
2018-04-13
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
Cracking the cytoarchitectural organization, activity patterns, and neurotransmitter nature of genetically-distinct cell types in the lateral hypothalamus is fundamental to understanding survival behaviors such as feeding. Here I revealed that chemogenetic inhibition of parvalbumin-positive neurons in the lateral hypothalamus increases food consumption and general arousal in sated mice. Moreover, functional imaging using two-photon fluorescence endomicroscopy exhibited decreased activity of these neurons during food-deprived conditions, suggesting an unprecedented role in encoding for metabolic states. Furthermore, these neurons are fast-spiking similar to canonical inhibitory parvalbumin neurons in the neocortex and hippocampus, but unlike those cells, lateral hypothalamic parvalbumin neurons are excitatory. Finally, sensory detection of food rapidly increases the activity of these neurons.
Description
Keywords
Parvalbumin, Neuron, Hypothalamus, Lateral hypothalamus, Feeding, Excitatory, GABA, Glutamate, 2-photon, Two-photon, Photon, Chemogenetic, Optogenetic, Food seeking