Mapping GABAergic projections that mediate feeding

• Published in: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2024-08, Vol.163, p.105743, Article 105743
• Main Authors: Wang, Joshua, O’Reilly, Max, Cooper, Ignatius Alvarez, Chehrehasa, Fatemeh, Moody, Hayley, Beecher, Kate
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemogenetic; Feeding; GABA; Gamma-aminobutyric acid; Obesity; Optogenetic
• ISSN: 0149-7634; 1873-7528; 1873-7528
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105743

Neuroscience offers important insights into the pathogenesis and treatment of obesity by investigating neural circuits underpinning appetite and feeding. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), one of the most abundant neurotransmitters in the brain, and its associated receptors represent an array of pharmacologically targetable mediators of appetite signalling. Targeting the GABAergic system is therefore an increasingly investigated approach to obesity treatment. However, the many GABAergic projections that control feeding have yet to be collectively analysed. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between GABAergic signalling and appetite by examining both foundational studies and the results of newly emerging chemogenetic/optogenetic experiments. A current snapshot of these efforts to map GABAergic projections influencing appetite is provided, and potential avenues for further investigation are provided. •Understanding appetite signalling in the brain is necessary in order to understand obesity pathogenesis.•GABA signalling represents a diverse, pharmacologically targetable neurochemical system that influences feeding.•The technology used to understand appetitive signalling has advanced.•Mapping GABAergic projections that mediate appetite projections offers potential insights for targeted obesity treatment development.