喂养行为是一个复杂的生理过程,受体内平衡和享乐喂养回路之间的相互作用调节。在涉及的神经结构中,伏隔核(NAc)已成为这两个回路界面的关键区域。NAc包括不同的次区域,在这篇综述中,我们主要关注NAcshell(NAcSh)。稳态馈电电路,主要发现于下丘脑,确保生物体在能量和营养需求方面的平衡。这些电路监控外设信号,比如胰岛素,瘦素,和ghrelin,调节饱腹感和饥饿状态。NAcSh从这些稳态电路接收输入,整合有关生物体代谢需求的信息。相反,所谓的享乐进食回路涉及所有其他非饥饿和饱腹感的过程,即,感官信息,联想学习,奖励,与食物消费相关的动机和快乐。NAcSh与腹侧被盖区和前额叶皮层等享乐主义相关结构相互连接,并在编码与可口食物寻找或消费相关的享乐主义信息中起着关键作用。总之,NAcSh是喂养行为的关键枢纽,整合来自稳态和享乐电路的信号,通过其下游预测促进行为产出。此外,NAcSh的参与超出了简单的集成,因为它直接影响与食品消费相关的行动。在这次审查中,我们首先专注于描绘针对NAcSh的输入;然后,我们向下游结构呈现NAcSh输出预测。最后,我们讨论了NAcSh如何调节进食行为,可以看作是整合稳态和享乐进食信号的神经中枢,通过一组功能多样的投影神经元亚群。
Feeding behavior is a complex physiological process regulated by the interplay between homeostatic and hedonic feeding circuits. Among the neural structures involved, the nucleus accumbens (NAc) has emerged as a pivotal region at the interface of these two circuits. The NAc comprises distinct subregions and in this review, we focus mainly on the NAc shell (NAcSh). Homeostatic feeding circuits, primarily found in the hypothalamus, ensure the organism\'s balance in energy and nutrient requirements. These circuits monitor peripheral signals, such as insulin, leptin, and ghrelin, and modulate satiety and hunger states. The NAcSh receives input from these homeostatic circuits, integrating information regarding the organism\'s metabolic needs. Conversely, so-called hedonic feeding circuits involve all other non-hunger and -satiety processes, i.e., the sensory information, associative learning, reward, motivation and pleasure associated with food consumption. The NAcSh is interconnected with hedonics-related structures like the ventral tegmental area and prefrontal cortex and plays a key role in encoding hedonic information related to palatable food seeking or consumption. In sum, the NAcSh acts as a crucial hub in feeding behavior, integrating signals from both homeostatic and hedonic circuits, to facilitate behavioral output via its downstream projections. Moreover, the NAcSh\'s involvement extends beyond simple integration, as it directly impacts actions related to food consumption. In this review, we first focus on delineating the inputs targeting the NAcSh; we then present NAcSh output projections to downstream structures. Finally we discuss how the NAcSh regulates feeding behavior and can be seen as a neural hub integrating homeostatic and hedonic feeding signals, via a functionally diverse set of projection neuron subpopulations.