Binge-type eating disrupts dopaminergic and GABAergic signaling in the prefrontal cortex and ventral tegmental area.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Binge eating is characterized by repeated intermittent bouts of compulsive overconsumption of food. Treatment is challenging given limited understanding of the mechanisms underlying this type of disordered eating. The hypothesis that dysregulation of mesocortical dopaminergic and GABAergic systems underlie binge eating was tested.

Methods

Analysis of gene expression within the ventral tegmental area and its terminal mesocortical regions was examined in bingeing rats before and after bingeing occurred. In addition, alterations in binge-type behavior induced by pharmacological inactivation of subnuclei of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and by pharmacological activation and inhibition of cortical D1 and D2 receptors were examined.

Results

Correlative and functiona

SUBMITTER: Corwin RL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10258610 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature