More than meets the eye: The metabolic state of the body shapes visual sensations

How body metabolism impacts sensory processing in the brain remains unresolved. In a recent study in Neuron, Padamsey et al. (2021) revealed that when the body is food restricted for several weeks, neurons in the visual cortex reduce their energy consumption at the cost of response selectivity and visual performance.

Automated summary

This study reveals that prolonged food restriction leads to reduced energy consumption in neurons in the visual cortex, resulting in a loss of response selectivity and visual performance.