A team of researchers from the UW School of Medicine and Public Health has identified a breakdown in the brain’s control tower for obesity — a snarl in a complex molecular messaging system that regulates the body’s food intake and weight.
In a study published Thursday in the Oct. 3 issue of Cell, researchers led by Dongsheng Cai, an assistant professor of physiology, honed in on a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. Smaller than a grape, this tiny structure is charged with a mighty mission: the regulation and control of the body’s metabolism.