Scott Sternson wants to know how the needs of the body set the ‘ground rules’ for our behavior. Sternson’s team is particularly interested in how the brain controls appetite. They have developed new tools for integrating molecular and systems neuroscience, using them to systematically elucidate cellular and systems-level mechanisms by which the brain monitors basic physiological needs and orchestrates hunger, thirst, and other complex motivated behaviors important for survival. Their goal is to use detailed molecular and neural circuit models of appetite to develop mechanisms-based treatment strategies for obesity. In addition, they are developing chemogenetics as a potential drug-controlled gene therapy approach to neural circuit disorders.
Scientists have identified mouse neurons that make food and drink palatable, feeding a cycle of consumption. Janelia scientists find that a molecule best known for its role in pain perception also plays an important role in regulating body weight. Negative emotions associated with hunger can make it hard to maintain a diet and lose weight. Hunger-sensitive cells in the brain may help explain that struggle. In mice with light-sensitive neurons in their brain, illuminating one type of neuron drives the animals to their food bowls, whereas targeting a different type makes them abstain.