Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, Gower St., London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, Gower St., London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Neuron. 2024 Jan 17;112(2):288-305.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.10.016. Epub 2023 Nov 16.
Hunger is an internal state that not only invigorates feeding but also acts as a contextual cue for higher-order control of anticipatory feeding-related behavior. The ventral hippocampus is crucial for differentiating optimal behavior across contexts, but how internal contexts such as hunger influence hippocampal circuitry is unknown. In this study, we investigated the role of the ventral hippocampus during feeding behavior across different states of hunger in mice. We found that activity of a unique subpopulation of neurons that project to the nucleus accumbens (vS-NAc neurons) increased when animals investigated food, and this activity inhibited the transition to begin eating. Increases in the level of the peripheral hunger hormone ghrelin reduced vS-NAc activity during this anticipatory phase of feeding via ghrelin-receptor-dependent increases in postsynaptic inhibition and promoted the initiation of eating. Together, these experiments define a ghrelin-sensitive hippocampal circuit that informs the decision to eat based on internal state.
饥饿是一种内部状态，不仅能激发进食行为，还能作为一种上下文线索，对预期进食相关行为进行更高层次的控制。腹侧海马体对于区分不同环境下的最佳行为至关重要，但内部环境（如饥饿）如何影响海马体回路尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们调查了腹侧海马体在不同饥饿状态下的进食行为中的作用。我们发现，当动物探查食物时，投射到伏隔核的神经元的一个独特亚群的活动增加，而这种活动抑制了开始进食的转变。外周饥饿激素胃饥饿素水平的升高通过胃饥饿素受体依赖性增加突触后抑制，减少了进食前阶段 vS-NAc 的活动，并促进了进食的开始。总的来说，这些实验定义了一个胃饥饿素敏感的海马体回路，根据内部状态来决定是否进食。
