Intermittent feeding schedules : behavioural consequences and potential clinical significance

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Arcuate nucleus homeostatic systems reflect blood leptin concentration but not feeding behaviour during scheduled feeding on a high-fat diet in mice

Acknowledgements T.B. was funded by a CASE studentship from the BBSRC and AstraZeneca. J.B. was a summer student from Bordeaux Sciences Agro and funded by student laboratory experience grant from the British Society of Neuroendocrinology. The authors are also grateful for funding from the Scottish Government, and from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreements 266408 (Full4Health) and 245009 (NeuroFAST).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Behavioral and pharmacological characterization of a mouse model of palatable diet alternation

Obesity and eating disorders represent a severe problem in Western societies. Both the increased availability of highly palatable foods and dieting are major risk factors contributing to the epidemic disorders of feeding. The purpose of this study was to characterize an animal model of maladaptive feeding induced by intermittent access to a palatable diet alternation in mice. In this study, mice were either continuously provided with standard chow food (Chow/Chow), or provided with standard chow for 2 days, with 1 day of access to a high-sucrose, palatable food (Chow/Palatable). Following stability of intake within the cycling paradigm, we investigated the effects of several pharmacological treatments: Naltrexone, an opioid antagonist, SR141716A (rimonabant), a type 1 cannabinoid receptor antagonist, and BD-1063, a type 1 sigma receptor antagonist. Over successive cycles, Chow/Palatable mice showed an escalation of palatable food intake within the first-hour of renewed access to palatable diet, and displayed hypophagia upon its removal. Naltrexone, SR141716A, and BD-1063 reduced overconsumption of palatable food during this first hour. Here we provide evidence of strong face and convergence validities in a palatable diet alternation model in the mouse, confirming multiple shared underlying mechanisms of pathological eating across species, and thus making it a useful therapeutic development tool.2019-07-11T00:00:00

Feeding Dairy Cattle

PDF pages: 4

Survival benefits in mimicry: a quantitative framework

Mimicry is a resemblance between species that benefits at least one of the species. It is a ubiquitous evolutionary phenomenon particularly common among prey species, in which case the advantage involves better protection from predation. We formulate a mathematical description of mimicry among prey species, to investigate benefits and disadvantages of mimicry. The basic setup involves differential equations for quantities representing predator behavior, namely, the probabilities for attacking prey at the next encounter. Using this framework, we present new quantitative results, and also provide a unified description of a significant fraction of the quantitative mimicry literature. The new results include `temporary' mutualism between prey species, and an optimal density at which the survival benefit is greatest for the mimic. The formalism leads naturally to extensions in several directions, such as the evolution of mimicry, the interplay of mimicry with population dynamics, etc. We demonstrate this extensibility by presenting some explorations on spatiotemporal pattern dynamics.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Diet-Regulated Anxiety

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A core eating network and its modulations underlie diverse eating phenomena

We propose that a core eating network and its modulations account for much of what is currently known about the neural activity underlying a wide range of eating phenomena in humans (excluding homeostasis and related phenomena). The core eating network is closely adapted from a network that Kaye, Fudge, and Paulus (2009) proposed to explain the neurocircuitry of eating, including a ventral reward pathway and a dorsal control pathway. In a review across multiple literatures that focuses on experiments using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), we first show that neural responses to food cues, such as food pictures, utilize the same core eating network as eating. Consistent with the theoretical perspective of grounded cognition, food cues activate eating simulations that produce reward predictions about a perceived food and potentially motivate its consumption. Reviewing additional literatures, we then illustrate how various factors modulate the core eating network, increasing and/or decreasing activity in subsets of its neural areas. These modulating factors include food significance (palatability, hunger), body mass index (BMI, overweight/obesity), eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating), and various eating goals (losing weight, hedonic pleasure, healthy living). By viewing all these phenomena as modulating a core eating network, it becomes possible to understand how they are related to one another within this common theoretical framework. Finally, we discuss future directions for better establishing the core eating network, its modulations, and their implications for behavior

Acute High Fat Diet Consumption Activates the Mesolimbic Circuit and Requires Orexin Signaling in a Mouse Model

Overconsumption of palatable energy-dense foods has negative health implications and it is associated with obesity andseveral eating disorders. Currently, little is known about the neuronal circuitries activated by the acute ingestion of arewarding stimulus. Here, we used a combination of immunohistochemistry, pharmacology and neuronal tracing analysesto examine the role of the mesolimbic system in general, and the orexin neurons in particular, in a simple experimental testin which naı ̈ve mice are allowed to spontaneously eat a pellet of a high fat diet (HFD) for 2 h. We found that acute HFDactivates c-Fos expression in several reward-related brain areas, including the ventral tegmental area (VTA), nucleusaccumbens, central amygdala and lateral hypothalamic area. We also found that: i- HFD-mediated orosensory stimulationwas required for the mesolimbic pathway activation, ii- acute HFD differentially activates dopamine neurons of theparanigral, parabrachial pigmented and interfascicular sub-regions of the VTA, and iii- orexin neurons of the lateralhypothalamic area are responsive to acute HFD. Moreover, orexin signaling blockade, with the orexin 1 receptor antagonistSB-334867, reduces acute HFD consumption and c-Fos induction in the VTA but not in the other mesolimbic nuclei understudy. Finally, we found that most orexin neurons responsive to acute HFD innervate the VTA. Our results show that acuteHFD consumption recruits the mesolimbic system and that the full manifestation of this eating behavior requires theactivation of orexin signaling.Fil: Valdivia Torres, Lesly Spring. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Patrone, Anabela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Reynaldo, Mirta Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; ArgentinaFil: Perello, Mario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular; Argentin

Cerebellar BDNF promotes exploration and seeking for novelty

Approach system considered a motivational system that activates reward-seeking behavior is associated with exploration/impulsivity, whereas avoidance system considered an attentional system that promotes inhibition of appetitive responses is associated with active overt withdrawal. Approach and avoidance dispositions are modulated by distinct neurochemical profiles and synaptic patterns. However, the precise working of neurons and trafficking of molecules in the brain activity predisposing to approach and avoidance are yet unclear