Research Projects

Eating is necessary for survival, is impacted by environmental circumstances, and is strictly regulated based on internal metabolic requirements. Disturbances in eating behavior characterized by excessive food intake in a short period of time despite negative consequences are considered compulsive eating, a form of pathological eating. Compulsive eating is a predominant feature of eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder (BED), obesity, and the recently proposed construct of food addiction. Despite extensive research on hedonic feeding neural circuitry, our knowledge of how the brain drives compulsive eating behavior is limited. We will identify and characterize a novel opioid neural circuit for compulsive eating using mouse models. Using modern tools and the expertise available in the lab, this opioid neural circuit will be imaged in behaving animals and further will be targeted with high precision using tools such as chemogenetics and optogenetics to attenuate compulsive eating behavior. The outcomes of this project will advance our understanding of how compulsive eating is encoded in the brain and will help to develop potential therapeutic interventions against compulsive eating