Andrews Laboratory
Neural Control of Energy Homeostasis
Welcome to the Andrews Lab
How does the brain sense and respond to hunger?
We're part of the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, and a member of the Metabolism, Diabetes & Obesity and Neuroscience Program and the Department of Physiology.
Professor Zane Andrews
My global research connections, partners and funding can be viewed on my Monash Research Profile.
If you are a student interested in doing research in our lab, visit Supervisor Connect.
Click the links below to connect with me on Twitter, ORCID, Google Scholar and LinkedIn.
Our research
Hunger is a fundamental driver of behaviour for all mammals, necessary for survival of the species. The purpose of hunger appears obvious - it makes you eat. However, hunger influences many other functions, including mood, motivation, memory, attention and arousal. We are interested in understanding the neural circuits that sense hunger and influence behavioural responses. By understanding these pathways, we hope to address overeating and food addiction in obesity, eating disorders and the associated comorbid psychiatric problems.
-
Hunger sensing
Agrp neurons convey hunger throughout the brain and promote adaptative behaviours (mood, motivation, memory, attention, stress control) to enable coping with periods of low food availability. We seek to understand how these neurons detect hunger and influence these behaviours.
-
Hunger signaling
Ghrelin is a message (hormone) from the body that tells the brain there is limited food available. We seek to understand how ghrelin helps the body cope with hunger by influencing physiology and behaviour.
-
Regulation of food intake, food seeking and behaviour
Sensory processing of external cues and emotional state influence appetite. We examine the neural circuits responsible.
Lab members
We are committed to excellence in research.
Join Our Lab
We're always interested in collaborating with bright and motivated researchers, clinicians and industry. Whether you want to research, study or partner with us to accelerate our discoveries, find out about the work we do.