A Light-Responsive Neural Circuit Suppresses Feeding
- J Neurosci. 2024 Jul 24;44(30):e2192232024. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2192-23.2024.
- 1. Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030 [email protected]. [email protected] [email protected].
- 2. Research Center for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan 430012, China [email protected]. [email protected] [email protected].
- 3. Wuhan Hospital for Psychotherapy, Wuhan 430012, China.
- 4. Affiliated Wuhan Mental Health Center, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430012, China.
- 5. Research Center for Psychological and Health Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430012, China.
- 6. Affiliated Wuhan Mental Health Center, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430012, China.
- 7. Human Behavior Laboratory, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843.
- 8. Research Center for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan 430012, China.
- 9. Department of Medicine-Endocrinology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030.
- 10. Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030.
- 11. Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242.
- 12. Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242.
- 13. F.O.E. Diabetes Research Center, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242.
- 14. Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030.
- 15. Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China.
- 16. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030.
- 17. Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030.
Light plays an essential role in a variety of physiological processes, including vision, mood, and glucose homeostasis. However, the intricate relationship between light and an animal's feeding behavior has remained elusive. Here, we found that light exposure suppresses food intake, whereas darkness amplifies it in male mice. Interestingly, this phenomenon extends its reach to diurnal male Nile grass rats and healthy humans. We further show that lateral habenula (LHb) neurons in mice respond to light exposure, which in turn activates 5-HT neurons in the dorsal Raphe nucleus (DRN). Activation of the LHb→5-HTDRN circuit in mice blunts darkness-induced hyperphagia, while inhibition of the circuit prevents light-induced anorexia. Together, we discovered a light-responsive neural circuit that relays the environmental light signals to regulate feeding behavior in mice.
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