Researchers at the Scripps Institute have pinpointed a specific brain region that nudges mammals to seek more food when they feel cold. The findings were published in Nature, marking a notable advance in our understanding of how temperature signals reshape appetite in mammals.
In the study, scientists measured neuron activity in mice under cold conditions of around 3.8 °C and a warm setting near 22.8 °C. Across most brain areas, activity slowed as temperatures dropped. The notable exception was a part of the thalamus that maintained heightened activity even in the cold.
Specifically, the midline nucleus within the thalamus showed increased firing that coincided with the mice’s shift toward food foraging. The researchers observed this surge just before the animals began to search for food and forage more vigorously when cold was present.
When the team experimentally activated these thalamic neurons, mice intensified their food-seeking behavior. Conversely, dampening activity in this region reduced foraging, but only under cold conditions. This pattern suggested the thalamic midline nucleus acts like a switch, driving cold-induced foraging in mice.
The study also notes that mammals naturally burn more energy to preserve body temperature in cold environments, which can heighten appetite. The researchers caution that the so-called cold effect is not a weight-loss remedy; instead, they aim to translate these insights into strategies that improve metabolic health and fat management through controlled temperature exposure and related approaches.
Originating from an ongoing effort to map how neural circuits regulate energy balance, the work opens avenues for exploring how temperature-driven appetite signals might be leveraged in human health contexts while acknowledging the differences between species and the need for further research to translate these findings into practical interventions. [citation: Scripps Institute; Nature publication]