Taste in the Brain — In the November 1 issue of Cell Metabolism, Dr. Gary Schwartz and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Clémence Blouet report on the importance of the brainstem control of energy balance in the body. While most research in this area has focused on the hypothalamus as the primary site of regulation, Drs. Schwartz and Blouet have found the brainstem to be a critical location for the detection and integration of multiple fuel-related signals. They identified specific subsets of neurons in the brainstem that can sense the amino acid leucine and found that this signaling decreased food intake and body weight. This work contributes to the growing understanding of how the body maintains energy homeostasis, which may have important implications for the nutritional control of the growing rates of obesity in the United States. Drs. Schwartz and Blouet are in the Diabetes Research and Training Center in the departments of medicine and neuroscience.
Posted on: Monday, November 12, 2012