The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Aaron Norris, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of anesthesiology at WashU Medicine, a $3.5 million five-year grant to study how specific brain circuits regulate energy expenditure and metabolism. The project, titled “Neural Circuits in Preoptic Hypothalamus Regulating Energy Expenditure and Metabolism,” focuses on cells in the hypothalamus — the part of the brain that helps regulate hunger, body temperature and metabolism.
Norris and his team will study a small group of brain cells that may act like a control switch for how many calories the body burns. The researchers will examine when these cells become active — such as at certain times of day or after eating — and how they influence processes like body heat production and the way fat tissue behaves in the body. They also will explore whether activating these cells could help the body burn more calories, reduce body fat and improve overall metabolic health.
“This work could point to a new way to address obesity and related diseases,” Norris said. “Many current treatments focus on helping people eat less, but we still know relatively little about how the brain controls how much energy the body uses. Understanding these brain signals could lead to new treatments that help the body burn more calories rather than focusing only on reducing food intake.”
About 42% of U.S. adults have obesity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, increasing the risk for conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and other metabolic disorders. By identifying brain pathways that influence how the body burns energy, this research could help pave the way for new strategies to promote weight loss and improve metabolic health.
