This review redefines dopamine (DA) signaling beyond its classical role in reward processing, positioning dopaminergic circuits as central regulators of feeding behavior, metabolic sensing, and energy homeostasis. The authors describe how distributed dopamine ensembles across mesocorticolimbic and hypothalamic networks integrate both hedonic and homeostatic information to coordinate adaptive feeding responses.
This review redefines dopamine (DA) signaling beyond its classical role in reward processing, positioning dopaminergic circuits as central regulators of feeding behavior, metabolic sensing, and energy homeostasis. The authors describe how distributed dopamine ensembles across mesocorticolimbic and hypothalamic networks integrate both hedonic and homeostatic information to coordinate adaptive feeding responses.
Midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons dynamically respond to nutrient availability, metabolic state, and peripheral hormonal signals such as leptin, insulin, and ghrelin. These signals are further integrated within dopaminoceptive circuits in the nucleus accumbens and hypothalamus, where dopamine modulates food-seeking behavior, caloric intake, glucose regulation, and energy expenditure.
Importantly, the review emphasizes the remarkable cellular and circuit heterogeneity of dopamine systems. Distinct neuronal populations and receptor-specific pathways enable context-dependent regulation of feeding under physiological and pathological conditions, including obesity, metabolic syndrome, binge eating, and anorexia-related disorders.
Rather than functioning as isolated reward pathways, dopamine circuits are conceptualized as highly interconnected metabolic networks translating internal physiological states into behavioral outputs. This evolving framework has major translational implications, suggesting that selective modulation of specific dopaminergic nodes may provide novel therapeutic strategies for metabolic and eating disorders.
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