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To survive, our bodies need a lot of energy which comes from food we eat. The amount and type of food we eat is controlled by the hypothalamus which contains a neuron network preoccupied with the energy status of our body. This neuronal network develops in the uterus, maintained throughout our life by adult hypothalamic stem cells called tanycytes. Tanycytes can sense metabolites and hormones circulating in our blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Tanycytes can generate new neurons which get integrated into our feeding networks in the hypothalamus which regulates and adapts to what we eat.

Our brains interpret the world through senses like vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. The olfactory bulb, central to the sense of smell, plays a key role in this process. Notably, adult neurogenesis, the production of new neurons, occurs in the brain, with these new cells migrating specifically to the olfactory bulb. These neurons are crucial for our sense of smell and connect the olfactory bulb to brain regions governing emotion and memory.