Study reveals that daytime eating may benefit mental health

Scientists study the communication between fat and the brain

2022-09-02 The newly discovered sensory neurons send messages from adipose tissue to the brain and could eventually be co-opted to treat obesity or metabolic diseases. “The discovery of these neurons suggests for the first time that your brain is actively monitoring your fat, rather than just passively receiving messages about it,” says co-senior author Li Ye, PhD, Abide-Vividion Chair in Chemistry and Chemical Biology. and associate professor of neuroscience at Scripps Research. “The implications of this finding are profound.” “This is yet another example of how important sensory neurons are to health and disease in the human body,” says co-senior author and professor Ardem Patapoutian, PhD, who is also a Nobel laureate and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. In mammals, adipose tissue stores energy in the form of fat cells, and when the body needs energy, it releases those stores. It also controls a host of hormones and signaling molecules related to hunger and metabolism. In diseases like diabetes, fatty liver disease, atherosclerosis, and obesity, energy storage and signaling often fail.