Project description
Unraveling the role of interneurons in brain circuits responsible for stress-related food intake
Emerging evidence underscores a crucial role for the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in coordinating stress-induced food intake. However, the PFC is a highly heterogeneous structure that sends neuronal output to many brain regions with opposing roles in food regulation. How this divergent output is coordinated is not known. The EU-funded CoMPOSE project proposes to investigate the mechanism by which interneurons orchestrate PFC output circuits during feeding behavior and how stress leads to adaptations in the activity patterns of these neurons to drive enhanced food intake. The project's results are of high socioeconomic importance, considering that modern life stress shifts dietary choices towards calorie-dense foods, and individuals with binge-eating disorder are particularly vulnerable to this. Moreover, the identification of evidence-based targets is central to the design of new prevention strategies against obesity.
Objective
Stress leads to enhanced food intake and a shift in dietary choices towards more high-caloric and unhealthy food. While this serves an adaptive purpose to replenish energy stores after a physical challenge, in modern society where continuous psychological stressors are present and cheap unhealthy food easily accessible, this leads to an alarming situation where many people overeat. As a consequence, obesity levels are rising with severe consequences for our health. Especially people with an eating disorder, like binge-eating disorder, are vulnerable to this situation. Human and animal studies both point to a critical role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in coordinating stress-induced food intake. The prefrontal cortex is a highly heterogenous structure sending coordinated neuronal output to many brain regions with opposing roles in food regulation. This indicates that these circuits are under tight regulation of local interneurons. However how interneurons coordinate circuits for stress-induced feeding behavior is not known. In this project I aim to understand how Inhibitory interneurons shape output patterns of prefrontal cortical pyramidal neurons in a projection-specific manner to drive stress-induced food intake. To this aim I will use a combination of viral tracing techniques and in vivo electrophysiological recordings of identified PFC interneurons and pyramidal neurons in mice. Moreover I will use chemogenetic approaches to manipulate specific PFC pyramidal neural circuits to understand their role in stress eating responses. This will yield important insight into the circuit mechanisms underlying this maladaptive behavior. Studying how this phenomenon arises at the level of neuronal circuits will provide evidence-based targets for prevention strategies.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology
- medical and health sciences health sciences dietetics
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3584 CX Utrecht
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.