Impairments in central pathways regulating energy homeostasis can cause profound metabolic dysfunctions, but current knowledge is insufficient to develop safe and efficient therapies targeting these pathways. Brain metabolic sensing is based on the activity of specialized cells that can transduce hormonal and nutritional signals to drive endocrine, behavioural and autonomic output circuits regulating energy balance. The Blouet Lab employs a multi-disciplinary approach coupling calcium imaging to characterize the neurophysiology of metabolic-sensing neurons, discrete manipulations of brain neurocircuits and nutrient sensing pathways using cutting-edge molecular genetics, and refined functional assessments in behaving rodents to characterize how nutrients are detected by the brain to maintain energy homeostasis in health and disease.
