How Internal Body Signals Influence Hormone, Emotion, and Reduced Eating Responses to Stress

Caloric deficits may significantly reduce physiological and behavioral responses to acute stress.

• Periods of caloric deficit are associated with diminished neural drive to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.
• Anxiety-like behavior may be less pronounced during caloric deficits.
• Stress-induced suppression of food intake, known as stress hypophagia, is also attenuated by caloric deficit.
• A2/PrRP and GLP-1 neurons in the caudal brainstem could play a crucial role in mediating these stress response changes.
• Reduced signaling from these neurons to brainstem and forebrain targets may contribute to the altered stress responses observed during caloric deficits.

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