Abstract
The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) is a complex area that is uniquely embedded across the core feeding, reward, arousal, and stress circuits. The PVT role in the control of feeding behavior is discussed here within a framework of adaptive behavioral guidance based on the body’s energy state and competing drives. The survival of an organism depends on bodily energy resources and promotion of feeding over other behaviors is adaptive except when in danger or sated. The PVT is structurally set up to respond to homeostatic and hedonic needs to feed, and to integrate those signals with physiological and environmental stress, as well as anticipatory needs and other cognitive inputs. It can regulate both food foraging (seeking) and consumption and may balance their expression. The PVT is proposed to accomplish these functions through a network of connections with the brainstem, hypothalamic, striatal, and cortical areas. The connectivity of the PVT further indicates that it could broadcast the information about energy use/gain and behavioral choice to impact cognitive processes—learning, memory, and decision-making—through connections with the medial and lateral prefrontal cortical areas, the hippocampal formation, and the amygdala. The PVT is structurally complex and recent evidence for specific PVT pathways in different aspects of feeding behavior will be discussed.
Highlights
The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) is a complex, multimodal area that is uniquely embedded across the core feeding, reward, arousal, and stress circuits (Hsu et al, 2014; Colavito et al, 2015; Millan et al, 2017)
The PVT role in the adaptive control of feeding behavior that was put forward in this perspective relates to previously proposed functions for this brain area
The PVT has been hypothesized to play a critical role in wake control (Shao et al, 2019), and wakefulness and arousal are essential in the control of feeding behavior
Summary
The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) is a complex, multimodal area that is uniquely embedded across the core feeding, reward, arousal, and stress circuits (Hsu et al, 2014; Colavito et al, 2015; Millan et al, 2017). The connections of the PVT indicate that it could receive these multifaceted signals and in turn control both food seeking and consumption and may be balancing their expression. The central nucleus of the amygdala (CEA) is well positioned to mediate cognitive, stress, and hedonic effects on feeding potentially together with the PVT (Petrovich, 2018a).
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