Andrews Lab research

Collaborations | Student research projects | Publications

About Professor Zane Andrews

Professor Andrews received his PhD in New Zealand at the University of Otago in 2003 and undertook postdoctoral training at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA (2004-2008). At Yale, he focused on the neural control of appetite and energy metabolism, with a particular emphasis on neuroendocrine control of ghrelin in the brain. He moved Monash University in Melbourne, Australia in 2009 and established his own laboratory. Professor Andrews is internationally recognised for his work on the neuroendocrine control of energy homeostasis, appetite and behaviour. He is the currently Deputy Head of the Metabolism, Diabetes and Obesity Program within the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, the Editor-in-Chief for Endocrinology, the president of Hypothalamic Neuroscience and Neuroendocrinology Australasia (HNNA), and a council member on the International Neuroendocrine Federation.

Our research

Current projects

1. Hunger-sensing neural pathways influence appetite and behaviour
2. Cortical control of hypothalamic feeding centers
3. How do threat and stress affect hypothalamic feeding pathways
4. Ghrelin receptor sensing in the brain links hunger to mood and motivation
5. Neural sensing of hunger links homeostatic and reward pathways
6. How does olfaction affect food intake, metabolism and behaviour

Visit Professor Andrews' Monash research profile to see a full listing of current projects.

For a list of possible projects in the lab visit Supervisor Connect.

Research activities

The Andrews’ lab uses animal models and viral genetic techniques to study how the brain controls food intake and associated behaviours. This includes the role of homeostatic and hedonic systems, and how they interact to influence both the need and the desire to eat. We are particularly interested in why and how the brain promotes the overconsumption of highly palatable energy dense foods and how this contributes to obesity. This lab uses modern neuroscience techniques such as in vivo calcium imaging, optogenetics and chemogenetics to probe the physiological and behavioural function of neural circuits responding to hunger and regulating appetite. He has primarily focused on the hormone ghrelin, as a key hormonal signal of hunger, and AgRP neurons, as key hunger-sensing, neurons. His current work focuses on how these hunger-sensing systems control food intake and related behaviours such as reward, motivation, mood, memory and cognition.

We focus on the hormone ghrelin as a key hormonal signal of hunger and AgRP neurons as key hunger-sensing neurons in the brain and our research over a number of years shows that hunger influences not only metabolism but also many non-food associated behaviours such as anxiety, reward and neuroprotection.

Hunger sensing: Agrp neurons convey energy deficit (hunger) throughout the brain. As well as promoting food intake, Agrp promote adaptative behaviours to enable coping with periods of low food availability. This includes mood, motivation, memory, learning, attention, cognition and stress control. We seek to understand how these hunger-sensing neurons interact with other brain regions to influence these behaviours.

^{Agrp neurons within the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus transmit the interoceptive sensation of hunger throughout the brain. Ghrelin is a hormone from the stomach that signals to the brain low food availability. Ghrelin can target multiple brain sites simultaneously.}

^{Agrp neurons in the Arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus}

Hunger signaling: Ghrelin is a message (hormone) from the body that tells the brain there is limited food available. Ghrelin is most effective during periods of hunger and least effective in obese individuals. We coined the term ghrelin resistance to describe this phenomenon. We seek to understand how ghrelin helps the body cope with hunger by influencing physiology and behaviour.

^{Schematic diagram of the ghrelin axis. Ghrelin is a stomach hormone that informs of the brain and body of low energy availability. In response to sensing low energy availability the brain engages adaptive behavioural and physiological responses to increase hunger. In this way, ghrelin enables and promotes coping with hunger.}

^{Ghrelin receptors in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus.}

Regulation of food intake, food seeking and behaviour: Sensory processing of external cues (ie smell, taste, sight, touch) and emotional state influence appetite. External cues that signal food availability and taste can drive feeding behaviours even in the absence of hunger, whereas other cues of stress, threat or negative emotions can suppress feeding in the presence of hunger. The neural circuits that integrate these external sensory cues with existing feeding circuits are poorly described. We seek to understand how hypothalamic feeding circuits communicate with neural circuits regulating external sensory information.

^{Adaptive responses to hunger regulated in the brain.}

^{This image illustrates the need to understand how different regions of the brain communicate in order to control appetite. Here we are interested in identifying the circuits controlling emotion, motivation and decision-making interact and how they with metabolic circuits regulating appetite and metabolism.}

Techniques/expertise

• Mouse genetics
• Viral genetics
• Neural circuit tracing
• Neural circuit function (Optogenetics and chemogenetics)
• Neural population recording (Fibre Photometry, miniscopes)
• Behavioural Neuroscience including RFID home cage learning and feeding behaviour
• Open source behavioural tools – FED3 adoption
• Immunohistochemistry
• Metabolic Physiology
• Metabolic phenotyping

Collaborations

We collaborate with many scientists and research organisations around the world. Click on the map to see the details for each of these collaborators (dive into specific publications and outputs by clicking on the dots).

Student research projects

The Andrews Lab offers a variety of Honours, Masters and PhD projects for students interested in joining our group. There are also a number of short term research opportunities available.

Please visit Supervisor Connect to explore the projects currently available in our Lab.