DFG funds research at the European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen with over two million euros
The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding a new Emmy Noether junior research group at the European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen (ENI-G) with more than two million euros over a period of up to six years. Led by neuroscientist Dr. Anne Petzold, the “Brain Body Interactions” group will investigate the role of the hormone leptin in controlling social and sexual behavior with the aim of developing new therapeutic approaches for neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression.
Leptin is a hormone produced primarily in adipose tissue that plays a central role in regulating body weight and feelings of hunger and satiety. Recent studies suggest that leptin also influences emotional and social behavior. In people with depression—which affects around eight million people in Germany alone—leptin secretion is often disrupted. This is where Dr. Petzold’s research project comes in.
“We want to find out how leptin works in the brain and which nerve cells and circuits it affects,” explains Dr. Petzold. Initial studies have shown that certain nerve cells that are sensitive to leptin also control social and sexual behavior. Building on these findings, the research team will now investigate how these brain circuits differ between the sexes and hormonal cycles – and whether a targeted increase in leptin levels can improve social and sexual well-being, both under healthy and pathological conditions.
Since January 1, 2025, Dr. Petzold has also been project leader in the DFG’s Collaborative Research Center 1436 (CRC 1436) “Neural Resources of Cognition,” where she is responsible for subproject A09 “Memory Resources of the Mammillary Body,” as well as in Collaborative Research Center 1451 (CRC 1451) “Key Mechanisms of Normal and Disease-Related Motor Control” with subproject A04. Her research aims to understand how signals from the body influence central brain regions and thus control innate behaviors in accordance with physiological states and environmental conditions.
After studying philosophy and integrative neuroscience in Magdeburg, Anne Petzold earned her doctorate at Imperial College London in 2017. She then conducted research at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research and the University of Cologne. Since 2024, she heads the Brain Body Interactions working group at ENI-G, a joint institution of the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) and the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences (MPI-NAT).