Suprachiasmatic nucleus neurons control eating and body weight

Depending on the time of day, food consumption impacts body weight. The researchers evaluated the role of ghrelin responsive (GHSR) suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) neurons in regulating eating and body weight in mice.

The authors show that inhibition of these neurons during this same time of day reduced the corresponding, typically low amount of food intake; it also reduced the cumulative feed efficiency and body weight. These effects were not observed at other times of day.

Also, chemogenetic stimulation of GHSR-expressing arcuate hypothalamic nucleus neurons increased food intake independently of time of day.

These neurons represented subpopulations of six distinct SCN neuronal clusters, which were predominantly GABAergic and exhibited light-sensitive, time-of-day-dependent transcriptomic profiles.

These results reveal a novel link between circadian biology, hormone signaling, and energy balance.

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(25)00984-2

https://sciencemission.com/Temporal-control-of-eating-and-body-weight