Lateral Parabrachial Choline Acetyltransferase Neurons and the Decision to Eat

Food choice is a modifiable health factor which involves neural, hormonal, and metabolic signals. The lateral parabrachial nucleus is a brain structure in the pons that integrates multiple aspects of food choice. It receives information from the homeostatic melanocortin hypothalamic system and projects to the mesolimbic dopamine reward system. The lateral parabrachial is molecularly diverse and expresses the acetylcholine synthesis enzyme: choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). In this study, we used ChAT-CRE mice to investigate the anatomical projections, the calcium dynamics, and the causal role of the LPBN ChAT neurons. Anatomical projection results were produced using CRE dependent viral vectors to express mRuby tagged synaptophysin, the highest output being the central amygdala. Calcium dynamics were measured at the amygdala using the genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP. The dynamics around the decision to consume food were seen to be different between fasted and sated satiety states. Activation of the circuit showed a pronounced latency to food consumption and time to finish for a single calorie of food. These data demonstrate a possible node that integrates homeostatic feeding information and relays it to higher order brain systems that modify reward value.