Obesity on the brain

TY - JOUR

T1 - Obesity on the brain

AU - Spiegel, Allen

AU - Nabel, Elizabeth

AU - Volkow, Nora

AU - Landis, Story

AU - Li, Ting Kai

N1 - Funding Information: The articles in this issue highlight some of the remarkable progress in our understanding of the molecular basis of obesity and provide a glimpse into the extraordinary complexity of the regulation of energy metabolism by the brain. Obesity is at once the prototypical model of a complex genetic disease and a product of life- style choice. This apparent paradox has led to the development of two distinct fields of obesity research, one biological and one psychological. A goal of human behavioral research is to understand and modify the factors that motivate individuals to overconsume or adopt sedentary behaviors. Biological research has a goal of understanding the processes controlling food intake, energy storage and energy expenditure in order to develop targeted therapeutic strategies. Since the discovery of leptin in 1994, these distinct research fields have begun to converge on a unified understanding of the molecular substrates of human motivation and of how motivated behaviors are impacted by endocrine and metabolic signals arising from organs involved in energy storage or utilization. Ongoing clinical trials investigating the potential of cannabinoid receptor antagonists as obesity therapeutics illustrate this convergence. We can anticipate the emergence of truly novel approaches to treat or prevent obesity through the development of new tools to integrate human perception and behavior into the neurobiology of obesity. The neuroscience of obesity is one of the broad areas highlighted for new initiative development by the US National Institutes of Health Obesity Research Task Force. The NIH Director established the Task Force to advance progress in obesity research by enhancing and synergizing the efforts of the numerous NIH components that support obesity-related research. Reflecting the complexity of signals that converge in the brain to impact energy balance, the research missions of the NIH components represented on the Task Force range from obesity’s well-known comorbidities of diabetes and cardiovascular disease to neuroscience and many other areas. In our positions as Directors of several of the NIH institutes represented on the Task Force—and, for two of us, as its Co-chairs—we seek to bring knowledge and insights from diverse disciplines to bear on obesity research planning across the NIH. The Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research (http://www.obesityre-search.nih.gov) was published in August 2004. Developed by the NIH Obesity Research Task Force with critical input from external scientists and the public, the Strategic Plan presents a multidimensional research agenda and is based on the identification of areas of greatest scientific opportunity and challenge. Among these areas is the intersection of neurobiology, behavior and obesity. Tremendous progress has been made since the discovery of leptin in defining the brain pathways that regulate hunger, satiety and energy metabolism. Despite the enormous advances in this field, major gaps remain. The connection between integrative centers in the hypothalamus and efferent endocrine and autonomic pathways that control diverse functions associated with energy homeostasis, such as activity, metabolic rate, food seeking behavior, gut motility, nutrient partitioning and hormone secretion, still remains undiscovered. The complex interactions between cognition, behavior and environment that are critical to our understanding of the pathobiology and prevention of obesity are difficult to study in animal models. To characterize the influences of genetics, environment and social and societal cues on human behavior and energy regulation in particular will require multidimensional analysis with an array of sophisticated techniques, some of which are still under development. Scientists with expertise in human investigation must be coupled with experts in endocrinology, animal behavior, imaging and genetics. Highlighted below are a number of initiatives developed by the Task Force that focus on the interface between these disciplines, a product of the diversity of perspectives, interest and expertise represented on the Task Force.

PY - 2005/5

Y1 - 2005/5

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=17844366057&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=17844366057&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/nn0505-552

DO - 10.1038/nn0505-552

M3 - Editorial

C2 - 15856061

AN - SCOPUS:17844366057

SN - 1097-6256

VL - 8

SP - 552

EP - 553

JO - Nature Neuroscience

JF - Nature Neuroscience

IS - 5

ER -