Archived Lecture: Understanding Appetite from the Gut to the Brain

About this Lecture

Rapid communication between the gut and the brain about recently consumed nutrients is critical for regulating appetite and maintaining body weight. Hunger-promoting AgRP neurons – a component of the central melanocortin system in the hypothalamus – play an important role in this process. These neurons can be manipulated and their in vivo activity monitored using genetic and optical techniques in mice. The goal of Dr. Beutler's work is to use these tools to dissect how nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract communicate with hypothalamic feeding neurons to modulate feeding behavior, and how this is disrupted in obese animals.

Additional Details 

This is a free event hosted by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. The Timothy A. Johnson Medical Scholar Lecture Series hosts clinician scientists who are exploring frontiers of medicine. These lectures are principally intended for Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine students and Virginia Tech students in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health graduate program. Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic faculty, staff, and students may also attend.

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