Abstract
Behavioral thermoregulation involves enhanced appetite under decreased temperature. The neural circuitry mediating the crosstalk between behavioral thermoregulation and energy homeostasis remains to be elucidated. We find that the hypothalamic orexigenic agouti-related neuropeptide (AgRP) neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) are profoundly activated by cold exposure. Inhibition of AgRP neurons attenuates the cold-evoked eating behavior. The calcium signals in AgRP neurons display an immediate-response pattern in response to cold stimulation. We find that the upstream cold-responsive neurons in the medial preoptic area (mPOA) make excitatory synaptic connections onto AgRP neurons. These findings reveal an mPOA-ARC neural pathway that modulates the cold-evoked eating behavior.
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