https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00521-3 Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Advertisement Advertisement Nature * View all journals * Search * Log in * Explore content * About the journal * Publish with us * Subscribe * Sign up for alerts * RSS feed 1. nature 2. news 3. article * NEWS * 23 February 2023 Sex, food or water? How mice decide Neurons that regulate a mouse's response to hunger and thirst also influence social interactions with the opposite sex. * Heidi Ledford 1. Heidi Ledford View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar * Twitter * Facebook * Email You have full access to this article via your institution. Download PDF Two genetically modified mice undergoing tests in a laboratory at the Institut Clinique de la Souris, Strasbourg, France. Experiments on mice show that the hormone leptin influences not only appetite but also pursuit of the opposite sex.Credit: Dung Vo Trung/ Look at Sciences/Science Photo Library Under the right circumstances, even moderately hungry mice prefer to socialize with the opposite sex than to eat, researchers have found^1 . In research published on 23 February in Cell Metabolism, scientists treated male mice with a technique that mimics the effects of leptin, a hormone that acts on the brain to suppress appetite. Treated mice were more likely to approach female mice than their food bowls -- even if the test rodents had been deprived of food for almost an entire day. The findings reveal a surprising role for leptin in social behaviour. They are also a step towards understanding how animals prioritize different behavioural options in response to ongoing needs -- an enduring question in neuroscience, says Gina Leinninger, who studies the neural regulation of feeding at Michigan State University in East Lansing. The paper "addresses a huge gap in the field", she says. "When you no longer need to eat urgently, it should free you up to do other things." The new work, Leinninger says, illuminates how the brain juggles these various demands. Food versus friends Neuroscientists Anne Petzold and Tatiana Korotkova at the University of Cologne in Germany, and their colleagues, sought to understand how such decision-making is affected by leptin, which activates a subset of cells in the brain and promotes a feeling of fullness. The researchers injected male mice with leptin and saw that it suppressed feeding, as expected -- but also promoted interactions with female mice. The team examined neurons in the brain's 'hunger center', the lateral hypothalamus, that are activated by leptin. The authors' experiments showed that neurons that can sense leptin were activated when mice interacted with members of the opposite sex. Artificially activating those neurons using a technique called optogenetics raised the likelihood thata mouse would approach a member of the opposite sex. Both results suggest that leptin plays a part in promoting social behaviour. Surprisingly, even mice that had limited access to food for a day were more likely to bypass their mouse chow and seek out members of the opposite sex when their leptin-activated neurons were stimulated with optogenetics. But in mice that had been given limited access to food for five days, hunger won out over socializing. "Following prolonged hunger, other systems kick in and make food a higher priority," says Korotkova. The team also studied neurons that produce a hormone called neurotensin that is related to thirst. Stimulating these neurons promoted drinking over eating or social behaviour. Hierarchy of needs Researchers have typically thought of leptin as being important for responses to metabolic signals rather than social cues, says Scott Sternson, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego. "But now that we see these results, it makes sense," he says. Leptin is normally produced when an animal's energy needs have been met, and that feeling of satiety could allow the animal to refocus its attention away from food and toward other interests. "And it appears that one of these is interest in the opposite sex." The study is unique in its complexity, monitoring two classes of neuron under a variety of conditions. But there are dozens of other cell types in the lateral hypothalamus, Sternson notes, and these might also have important roles. He and his colleagues have tracked the activity of 10 brain-cell types across 11 behaviours^2, but the experiment was so complicated that it limited the number of animals that the team could study, and the animals were not free to move around as they pleased, he says. [d41586-023] Inside the mind of an animal Although it is impossible to directly extrapolate from mouse to human behaviour, the leptin system is conserved in a wide range of animals. "Even flies express leptin receptors," Petzold says. This means that studying the interaction between leptin and social behaviours in mice could hold clues to understanding the disordered eating exhibited by some people with autism, for example, or the social phobia seen in some people with bulimia, says Korotkova. "There is a myriad of diseases that are desperately affecting humans that are all about this: do we need to eat more or drink more or not," says Leinninger. "Figuring out how to tweak that circuitry could be hugely impactful for health." doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00521-3 References 1. Petzold, A., van den Munkhof, H. E., Figge-Schlensok, R. & Korotkova, T. Cell Metab. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.cmet.2023.02.008 (2023). Article Google Scholar 2. Xu, S. et al. Science 370, eabb2494 (2020). Article PubMed Google Scholar Download references Related Articles * [d41586-023] The 'breakthrough' obesity drugs that have stunned researchers * [d41586-023] Nine 'brain food' tips for researchers * [d41586-023] Inside the mind of an animal Subjects * Metabolism * Neuroscience * Animal behaviour * Obesity Latest on: Metabolism Exercise triggers fat breakdown at some times of day and not others Exercise triggers fat breakdown at some times of day and not others Research Highlight 13 FEB 23 Serine deficiency causes complications in diabetes Serine deficiency causes complications in diabetes News & Views 25 JAN 23 Insulin-regulated serine and lipid metabolism drive peripheral neuropathy Insulin-regulated serine and lipid metabolism drive peripheral neuropathy Article 25 JAN 23 Neuroscience How I wrote a popular science book about consciousness -- and why How I wrote a popular science book about consciousness -- and why Career Q&A 23 FEB 23 How to measure the brain of an octopus How to measure the brain of an octopus Research Highlight 23 FEB 23 Your brain could be controlling how sick you get -- and how you recover Your brain could be controlling how sick you get -- and how you recover News Feature 22 FEB 23 Animal behaviour This fish knows its own face in a mirror This fish knows its own face in a mirror Research Highlight 07 FEB 23 Fluffball foxes wander thousands of kilometres to find a home Fluffball foxes wander thousands of kilometres to find a home Research Highlight 01 FEB 23 From the archive: how kangaroo rats limit their salt intake, and searching for trout From the archive: how kangaroo rats limit their salt intake, and searching for trout News & Views 03 JAN 23 Nature Careers Jobs * Associate/Senior Editor, npj series (new journal launches) Springer Nature New York, NY, United States * Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in Systems Immunology University of Calgary (U of C) Calgary, Alberta, Canada * Postdoctoral Fellow The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Houston, United States * Editor, Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism Elsevier Inc. Cambridge, MA, United States You have full access to this article via your institution. Download PDF Related Articles * [d41586-023] The 'breakthrough' obesity drugs that have stunned researchers * [d41586-023] Nine 'brain food' tips for researchers * [d41586-023] Inside the mind of an animal Subjects * Metabolism * Neuroscience * Animal behaviour * Obesity Advertisement Sign up to Nature Briefing An essential round-up of science news, opinion and analysis, delivered to your inbox every weekday. Email address [ ] [ ] Yes! Sign me up to receive the daily Nature Briefing email. I agree my information will be processed in accordance with the Nature and Springer Nature Limited Privacy Policy. Sign up * Close Nature Briefing Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter -- what matters in science, free to your inbox daily. Email address [ ] Sign up [ ] I agree my information will be processed in accordance with the Nature and Springer Nature Limited Privacy Policy. Close Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing Explore content * Research articles * News * Opinion * Research Analysis * Careers * Books & Culture * Podcasts * Videos * Current issue * Browse issues * Collections * Subjects * Follow us on Facebook * Follow us on Twitter * Subscribe * Sign up for alerts * RSS feed About the journal * Journal Staff * About the Editors * Journal Information * Our publishing models * Editorial Values Statement * Journal Metrics * Awards * Contact * Editorial policies * History of Nature * Send a news tip Publish with us * For Authors * For Referees * Language editing services * Submit manuscript Search Search articles by subject, keyword or author [ ] Show results from [All journals] Search Advanced search Quick links * Explore articles by subject * Find a job * Guide to authors * Editorial policies Nature (Nature) ISSN 1476-4687 (online) ISSN 0028-0836 (print) nature.com sitemap About Nature Portfolio * About us * Press releases * Press office * Contact us Discover content * Journals A-Z * Articles by subject * Nano * Protocol Exchange * Nature Index Publishing policies * Nature portfolio policies * Open access Author & Researcher services * Reprints & permissions * Research data * Language editing * Scientific editing * Nature Masterclasses * Nature Research Academies * Research Solutions Libraries & institutions * Librarian service & tools * Librarian portal * Open research * Recommend to library Advertising & partnerships * Advertising * Partnerships & Services * Media kits * Branded content Career development * Nature Careers * Nature Conferences * Nature events Regional websites * Nature Africa * Nature China * Nature India * Nature Italy * Nature Japan * Nature Korea * Nature Middle East * Privacy Policy * Use of cookies * Manage cookies/Do not sell my data * Legal notice * Accessibility statement * Terms & Conditions * California Privacy Statement Springer Nature (c) 2023 Springer Nature Limited