| First Author | Kucukdereli H | Year | 2024 |
| Journal | Neuron | PubMed ID | 38642553 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:348040 | Mgi Id | MGI:7639614 |
| Doi | 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.03.027 | Citation | Kucukdereli H, et al. (2024) Repeated stress triggers seeking of a starvation-like state in anxiety-prone female mice. Neuron |
| abstractText | Elevated anxiety often precedes anorexia nervosa and persists after weight restoration. Patients with anorexia nervosa often describe self-starvation as pleasant, potentially because food restriction can be anxiolytic. Here, we tested whether repeated stress can cause animals to prefer a starvation-like state. We developed a virtual reality place preference paradigm in which head-fixed mice can voluntarily seek a starvation-like state induced by optogenetic stimulation of hypothalamic agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons. Prior to stress exposure, males but not females showed a mild aversion to AgRP stimulation. Strikingly, following multiple days of stress, a subset of females developed a strong preference for AgRP stimulation that was predicted by high baseline anxiety. Such stress-induced changes in preference were reflected in changes in facial expressions during AgRP stimulation. Our study suggests that stress may cause females predisposed to anxiety to seek a starvation state and provides a powerful experimental framework for investigating the underlying neural mechanisms. |
