0029 Bsx Neurons Balance Sleep & Wakefulness Upon Metabolic Demand

[摘要] IntroductionWhy we sleep is still a mystery. Hunger is a potent stimulus that suppresses sleep. Indeed, animals like elephants and giraffes that extensively need to forage for food to satisfy their metabolic demand sleep very little without negative consequences. We have previously shown that the Brain Specific Homeobox transcription factor (BSX) is controlling hyperphagia and locomotory behavior in part through its expression in AgRP neurons where it regulates AgRP and NPY expression. However BSX expression is also present in other hypothalamic regions posing the question what other roles BSX may play in physiology. Food foraging, which encompasses food seeking and intake, is a complex physiological response to hunger/metabolic demand that requires an increased state of wakefulness, arousal and locomotory activity. Despite being an essential behavior for survival of most species, the neuronal networks that are able to elicit and maintain food foraging are still ill defined.

[学科分类] 生理学