The Role of the Nervous System in Controlling Food Intake and Energy Metabolism
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Neuro Sciences".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 November 2026 | Viewed by 131
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The brain plays a central role in regulating energy balance by integrating signals from peripheral tissues, hormones, nutrients and environmental cues to coordinate feeding behavior, energy expenditure and metabolic processes. A complex network of neural circuits, particularly within the hypothalamus, brainstem and reward-related regions, works together to maintain metabolic homeostasis. Disruption of these pathways can lead to metabolic dysfunction and contribute to the growing global burden of obesity, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders. Therefore, advancing our understanding of the neural mechanisms that govern energy balance is essential for identifying novel therapeutic strategies for metabolic disease.
We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue entitled “The Role of the Nervous System in Controlling Food Intake and Energy Metabolism.” This Special Issue aims to highlight recent progress in identifying and understanding the neural circuits, molecular pathways and physiological mechanisms that regulate energy balance and metabolic homeostasis. By bringing together cutting-edge studies from diverse disciplines, this issue seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of how the nervous system coordinates feeding behavior, energy expenditure and metabolic regulation.
Submissions of original research articles, clinical studies, systematic reviews and mechanistic investigations are welcome. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Neural circuits regulating feeding behavior and appetite
- Neural regulation of thermogenesis and energy expenditure
- The impacts of nutritional factors on Brain-periphery communication in metabolic regulation
- Neuroendocrine control of metabolism on nutrition and dietary
- Neural mechanisms underlying obesity and metabolic disorders
- Integration of environmental cues (e.g., temperature and diet) in metabolic control
- Neuroimmune interactions in energy balance
We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions and to advancing the field through high-quality research that deepens our understanding of the neural control of energy balance.
Dr. Hailan Liu
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- central nervous system
- neural circuits
- energy balance
- feeding behavior
- energy expenditure
- obesity
- thermogenesis
- neuroendocrine regulation
- brain–body communication
- metabolic homeostasis
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