Lateral Hypothalamic Circuits for Feeding and Reinforcement

Abstract: Motivated behaviors such as feeding and reward-seeking are critical for an organism's survival. These processes require distributed neuronal networks and supporting cell types in multiple brain regions to be tightly regulated and tuned in order to orchestrate behavioral output. The lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) has long been identified as a critical neuroanatomical substrate for motivated behavior. Despite decades of research, the molecular identity of defined LHA cell types remains poorly understood. Additionally, while LHA neurons have been previously shown to encode appetitive and consummatory behaviors via distinct cellular ensembles, it remains unknown how distinct LHA output neurons contribute to these processes. Here we propose to continue to study the neural circuits of the LHA, and to identify how distinct cell types contribute to feeding and reinforcement. Using an interdisciplinary approach to leverage cutting edge tools such as single cell transcriptional profiling, two photon calcium imaging, and viral we aim to undercover key circuit elements, and novel circuit specific gene expression patterns that can be leveraged for future therapeutic interventions for addiction and other neuropsychiatric disorders.