The $441,000 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847) will support research by the CAL Poly Pomona Foundation Inc. to identify a dopamine circuit in the brain that mediates day eating and diet-induced obesity in mice. The 3-year project seeks to genetically and anatomically define a subpopulation of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area that release dopamine in the suprachiasmatic nucleus in response to palatable foods. This research aims to reveal how the reward circuitry interacts with the central circadian clock to promote abnormal feeding behaviors contributing to the obesity epidemic. The project will employ innovative approaches in mouse genetics, stereotaxic viral delivery, and functional neural circuitry mapping.
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