Feeding behavior as seen through the prism of brain microdialysis

The knowledge of feeding behavior mechanisms gained through brain microdialysis is reviewed. Most of the chemical changes so far reported concern to the limbic system in rodents. A picture showing increases and decreases of extracellular neurotransmitters correlating to different aspects of feeding behavior is gradually emerging. Depending on the region, the same neurotransmitter may signal opposite aspects of feeding. Dopamine (DA) in the nucleus accumbens (NAC) correlates with food reward, stimulus saliency, and goal directed hyperlocomotion but in the ventromedial hypothalamus DA correlates with satiety and hypolocomotion. The findings accumulated in the last 25 years suggest that the control of a particular function relies on the interaction of several neurotransmitters rather than on a single neurotransmitter. The poor sensitivity of most analytical techniques hinders time and spatial resolution of microdialysis. Therefore, neurochemical correlates of short lasting behaviors are hard to figure out. As new and more sensitive analytical techniques are applied, new neurochemical correlates of feeding show up. Sometimes the proper analytical techniques are simply not available. As a consequence, critical signals such as neuropeptides are not yet completely placed in the puzzle. Despite such limitations, brain microdialysis has yielded a great deal of knowledge on the neurochemical basis of feeding.

► We have reviewed the impact of brain microdialysis on the study of feeding behavior.
► Neurotransmitter changes play a key role during feeding behavior.
► Technical obstacles hinder the power of microdialysis to elucidate neurochemical changes during feeding.