Optimizing growth rates by postnatal programming of brain pathways regulating metabolism.

Many industries rely on achieving optimal healthy growth rates in their animals, at reasonable cost. Adult diet can affect weight gain, but a more efficient strategy may be to accelerate growth by exploiting the vulnerability of the early life period to long-term programming. Perinatal nutrition can permanently alter weight regulation and metabolism in ways that persist throughout life. How this occurs is unknown. We will determine how postnatal overfeeding changes brain circuitry involved in metabolism and weight gain, focusing on 3 key hormones; leptin, insulin, glucocorticoids. If we understand the mechanisms behind such programming we can apply these to manipulating weight gain in animals in agriculture, conservation, and basic science.