Behavioral plasticity: Role of neuropeptides in shaping feeding responses

Allen S Levine; David C Jewett; Catherine M Kotz; Pawel K Olszewski

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2022.106031

Behavioral plasticity: Role of neuropeptides in shaping feeding responses

Appetite. 2022 Jul 1:174:106031. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106031. Epub 2022 Apr 6.

Authors

Allen S Levine¹, David C Jewett², Catherine M Kotz³, Pawel K Olszewski⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA. Electronic address: aslevine@umn.edu.
² Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI, USA.
³ Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, Medical School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, USA; Geriatric, Research, Education and Clinical Center, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health, Minneapolis, MN, 55417, USA.
⁴ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA; Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, Medical School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, USA; Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Waikato, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand.

PMID: 35395362
DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106031

Abstract

Behavioral plasticity refers to changes occurring due to external influences on an organism, including adaptation, learning, memory and enduring influences from early life experience. There are 2 types of behavioral plasticity: "developmental", which refers to gene/environment interactions affecting a phenotype, and "activational" which refers to innate physiology and can involve structural physiological changes of the body. In this review, we focus on feeding behavior, and studies involving neuropeptides that influence behavioral plasticity - primarily opioids, orexin, neuropeptide Y, and oxytocin. In each section of the review, we include examples of behavioral plasticity as it relates to actions of these neuropeptides. It can be concluded from this review that eating behavior is influenced by a number of external factors, including time of day, type of food available, energy balance state, and stressors. The reviewed work underscores that environmental factors play a critical role in feeding behavior and energy balance, but changes in eating behavior also result from a multitude of non-environmental factors, such that there can be no single mechanism or variable that can explain ingestive behavior.

Keywords: Feeding; Neuropeptide Y; Opioids; Orexin; Oxytocin; Plasticity.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Feeding Behavior / physiology
Humans
Neuropeptide Y / genetics
Neuropeptides*
Oxytocin

Substances

Neuropeptide Y
Neuropeptides
Oxytocin