Multitasking Hunger Neurons Help Control Compulsive Behaviors

New findings published in the journal Cell show that in the absence of food, neurons that are normally responsible for controlling appetite can cause repetitive behaviors that are sometimes seen in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anorexia nervosa.

Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have found evidence of this in flexible goal-oriented behaviors. They investigated how a populations of neurons in the hypothalamus that control intake are similarly involved in other behaviors. These neurons, or cells that control repetitive stereotypic behaviors in mice when food is not available, were activated during the study.

Researchers found that when food was not available, mice seemed to engage in repetitive behaviors, like grooming and marble burying. Furthermore, they demonstrated that these behaviors were goal-oriented and not based on anxiety.

"These observations unmask the relevance of primitive brain regions previously linked to eating to other complex behaviors," said lead author Marcelo Dietrich, M.D., assistant professor of comparative medicine and neurobiology and a member of the Yale Program in Integrative Cell Signaling and Neurobiology of Metabolism at Yale School of Medicine, in a news release. "These findings are relevant to understanding diseases with both homeostatic and compulsive components and highlight the multitasking nature of neurons in the brain."

Researchers believe that the data suggests how the brain regions play a crucial role in psychiatric conditions.

"The research lays the groundwork for possible clinical trials to address the behavioral aspects of anorexia nervosa and other neuropsychiatric diseases with compulsive behavioral components."

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