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Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

The Appetite Lab

Appetite Lab Projects

Current projects:

Neural and behavioral mechanisms of obesity development from infancy through childhood (R01DK136602, Carnell Contact PI)

This project aims to test whether development within brain appetite circuits from infancy to 6y is associated with brain, eating behavior and weight outcomes in middle childhood, and partly mediates the effects of prenatal and genetic risk factors as well as postnatal protective factors on middle childhood outcomes.

Assessing the evolving impact of early life exposures on child physical health and neurodevelopment (UG3OD023313, Carnell Co-I)

This project aims to test a central hypothesis that that child neurodevelopment is an integrative process that is shaped by the dynamic interaction of pre-and postnatal exposures, co-developing child physical health (asthma and obesity), and environmental moderators that act at the child, family, and neighborhood levels.

Universal Edited MRS at 3T (R01DK136602, Carnell Co-I, Edden PI)

This project aims to establish the trajectory of the major edited metabolites across the lifespan, establish acquisition protocols that reduce levels of OOV artefacts in edited MRS data, develop real-time acquisition methods that recognize OOV artefacts during scanning and adjust via Gradient Cycling to reduce them, and continue dissemination efforts by working with partner sites to optimize their use of edited MRS.

Dietary fat intake, obesity, and stress in women with Premenstrual Mood Disorders: A perfect storm for inflammation? (Johns Hopkins Catalyst award, Carnell Co-I, Hantsoo PI)

This project aims to test an overarching model that stress-induced inflammation is heightened in women with premenstrual mood disorders during the premenstrual phase, and that high BMI and high dietary fat intake exaggerate these stress-induced inflammatory processes.

Recently Completed Projects:

Early brain development and childhood obesity (R01DK113286, Carnell MPI)

The goal of this project is to test whether genetic and early pre and post-natal environmental conditions affect child eating behaviors and weight outcomes by altering patterns of brain development.

Impact of hypothalamic gliosis on appetite regulation and obesity risk in children (R01DK117623, Carnell Co-I)

This is a multi-site longitudinal cohort study to investigate whether hypothalamic gliosis is associated with intake regulation and/or altered brain responses to food stimuli in children.

The developing brain: Influences and outcomes (UG3OD023313, Carnell Co-I)

This project aims to investigate how brain growth is altered by specific pre- and post-natal environmental or genetic factors, and how patterns of brain growth are associated with emerging cognitive and behavioral abilities.

A study of tirzepatide in overweight and very overweight participants (Carnell Site PI)

The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of tirzepatide on food intake in participants who are overweight or very overweight. The study uses MRI to learn more about how tirzepatide affects specific parts of the brain. The effect of tirzepatide on appetite will also be studied. The study lasts up to four months and includes up to 14 visits to the study center.

Neural mechanisms of appetite dysregulation in Anorexia Nervosa: The role of AGRP (Klarman Family Foundation, Carnell Co-I)

The goal of this project is to investigate the role of neural mechanisms that affect food intake, specifically those mediated by agouti-related peptide (AgRP), in Anorexia Nervosa.

Publications

For a full list of publications click here.

Kudos