Ventral tegmental area GABAergic neurons induce anxiety-like behaviors and promote palatable food intake.

Ventral tegmental area GABAergic neurons induce anxiety-like behaviors and promote palatable food intake. Neuropharmacology. 2020 May 03;:108114 Authors: Chen L, Lu YP, Chen HY, Huang SN, Guo YR, Zhang JY, Li QX, Luo CY, Lin SW, Chen ZN, Hu LH, Wang WX, Li HY, Cai P, Yu CX Abstract The obesity epidemic is a global problem and a great challenge for public health. Overconsumption of food, especially palatable food, is the leading cause of obesity. The precise neural circuits underlying food overconsumption remain unclear and require further characterization. In the present study, we showed that Ca2+ signals of GABAergic neurons within the ventral tegmental area (VTA) increased after the onset of food intake, especially high-fat or high-sugar chow. Optogenetic activation of VTA GABAergic neurons evoked immediate eating of palatable food and significantly increased palatable food intake in satiated mice. Photoinhibition of VTA GABAergic neurons suppressed palatable food intake. Surprisingly, photoactivation of VTA GABAergic neurons suppressed the intake of standard chow in fasted mice, but did not reduce the duration of eating of standard chow. Moreover, we found that photoactivation of these neurons drove a series of anxiety-like behaviors in the open field, elevated plus maze, and marble-burying test. Additionally, we found that VTA GABAergic neurons sent abundant projections to the lateral hypothalamus and photoactivation of GABAergic...
Source: Neuropharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Neuropharmacology Source Type: research