# The Role of the Basolateral Amygdala in Cue-induced Eating

> **NIH NIH F31** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $31,018

## Abstract

Project Abstract
 Sensory stimuli that have been associated with food, such as the sight of dessert, can
increase eating behavior in the absence of caloric need. This phenomena of cue-induced eating
can be maladaptive, resulting in overeating, weight gain and obesity. However, the neural circuits
that enable external stimuli to override internal signals of satiety are unknown. Neurons in the
basolateral amygdala (BLA) are known to respond selectively to sensory stimuli (conditioned
stimuli, CS) depending on whether they are associated with rewarding or aversive stimuli.
Furthermore, the function of BLA neurons depends on their projection target and neurons that
project to the nucleus accumbens are preferentially involved in the representation of positive
valence and reward-seeking behaviors. I hypothesize that the neural activity of BLA neurons that
project to the accumbens represents appetitive stimuli and plays a causal role in cue-induced
eating in satiated mice. Aim 1 will use 1-photon calcium imaging to characterize the physiological
response properties of BLA neurons during the cue-induced eating paradigm. This work will
assess the extent to which neural activity represents a CS associated with liquid diet, a CS never
paired with liquid diet, and the consumption of the reward. Aim 2 will test whether BLA neurons
project to the nucleus accumbens are involved in the representation of food stimuli and CSs by
using retrograde tracing in combination with a molecular marker of neural activity, the immediate
early gene c-fos. Aim 2 will also assess the causal role of the BLA-to-accumbens pathway by
optogenetically inactivating this pathway during cue-induced eating and eating behaviors more
generally. The results of these experiments will provide insights to the neural circuits that drive
eating behavior in the presence of a food-associated stimulus and the absence of caloric need.
This data and behavioral paradigm could prove essential for discovering novel targets for
therapeutic intervention in treating obesity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10129193
- **Project number:** 5F31DK122817-02
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Francisco Xavier Pena
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $31,018
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10129193

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10129193, The Role of the Basolateral Amygdala in Cue-induced Eating (5F31DK122817-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10129193. Licensed CC0.

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