A paraventricular thalamus to insular cortex glutamatergic projection gates "emotional" stress-induced binge eating in females.
Roberta G AnversaErin J CampbellLeigh C WalkerSarah S Ch'ngMuthmainah MuthmainahFrederico S KremerAmanda M GuimarãesMia J O'SheaSuheng HeChristopher V DayasZane B AndrewsAndrew J LawrenceRobyn M BrownPublished in: Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2023)
It is well-established that stress and negative affect trigger eating disorder symptoms and that the brains of men and women respond to stress in different ways. Indeed, women suffer disproportionately from emotional or stress-related eating, as well as associated eating disorders such as binge eating disorder. Nevertheless, our understanding of the precise neural circuits driving this maladaptive eating behavior, particularly in women, remains limited. We recently established a clinically relevant model of 'emotional' stress-induced binge eating whereby only female mice display binge eating in response to an acute "emotional" stressor. Here, we combined neuroanatomic, transgenic, immunohistochemical and pathway-specific chemogenetic approaches to investigate whole brain functional architecture associated with stress-induced binge eating in females, focusing on the role of Vglut2 projections from the paraventricular thalamus (PVT Vglut2+ ) to the medial insular cortex in this behavior. Whole brain activation mapping and hierarchical clustering of Euclidean distances revealed distinct patterns of coactivation unique to stress-induced binge eating. At a pathway-specific level, PVT Vglut2+ cells projecting to the medial insular cortex were specifically activated in response to stress-induced binge eating. Subsequent chemogenetic inhibition of this pathway suppressed stress-induced binge eating. We have identified a distinct PVT Vglut2+ to insular cortex projection as a key driver of "emotional" stress-induced binge eating in female mice, highlighting a novel circuit underpinning this sex-specific behavior.
Keyphrases
- stress induced
- weight loss
- physical activity
- functional connectivity
- polycystic ovary syndrome
- resting state
- adipose tissue
- white matter
- multiple sclerosis
- magnetic resonance
- pregnant women
- high resolution
- blood brain barrier
- mass spectrometry
- liver failure
- induced apoptosis
- depressive symptoms
- insulin resistance
- single cell
- extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
- high fat diet induced
- hepatitis b virus
- pregnancy outcomes
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- rna seq