Background: Dopamine (DA) signalling in the brain is necessary for feeding behaviour, and
alterations in the DA system have been linked to obesity. However, the precise role of DA in
the control of food intake remains debated. On the one hand, food reward and motivation are
associated with enhanced DA activity. On the other hand, psychostimulant drugs that
increase DA signalling suppress food intake. This poses the questions of how endogenous
DA neuronal activity regulates feeding, and whether enhancing DA neuronal activity would …

Background: Much debate remains about the role of dopamine (DA) neuronal activity in the
control of food intake. Enhanced DA signalling is associated with food intake and enhances
motivation for food, whilst pharmacological DA reuptake inhibition reduces appetite and food
intake. One unresolved question is whether an increase in DA neuronal activity either
stimulates or inhibits feeding. Secondly, the respective roles of DA neurons in the ventral
tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) are incompletely …