On Jul. 10, 2024, Scripps Research scientists announced they have identified a group of neurons in a small and understudied region of the brain—the parasubthalamic nucleus (PSTN)—that controls when an animal decides to take a first bite of food.

The research team found that the ensemble of cells sensitive to binge-eating were capable of drastically changing the behavior of mice. Hungry mice normally start chowing down on food quickly once it becomes available to them. But when researchers turned on this ensemble of PSTN cells, mice were much slower to begin eating and, surprisingly, much faster to drink water. The study was published in Molecular Psychiatry.