Asst. Prof. Caner Çağlar is a neurobiologist specializing in the intersection of neurobiology and metabolism, with a particular focus on the neuronal mechanisms of feeding behavior, including binge eating and obesity. His research integrates behavioral neuroscience with genetic approaches to unravel how brain circuits regulate eating patterns and metabolic balance. By combining circuit-level analyses with in vivo neurophysiology and behavioral assays, his work directly links neuronal activity to feeding and cognitive behavior. Through collaborations with leading institutions worldwide, he has contributed to advancing an international perspective on the neuroscience of metabolism and eating disorders.
His research experience is embedded in the broader efforts of the Neuroscience Department, which advances discovery at the interface of genetics, brain function, and disease. These programs span population genomics, brain circuit regulation, neurodevelopmental disorders, and tumor biology. Studies on the Turkish Variome have generated a detailed map of population-specific genetic variation, offering new insights into admixture, rare alleles, and medically relevant variants that provide a foundation for disease gene discovery. In neurodevelopmental research, dysregulation of the mTOR pathway has been identified as a converging mechanism in genetically distinct forms of lissencephaly, with patient-derived cerebral organoids used to model disease progression and explore therapeutic strategies. Complementing these genetic and developmental studies, investigations into hypothalamic circuits regulating feeding behavior uncovered a novel neuronal population in the dorsomedial hypothalamus that constrains food intake, shedding light on fundamental mechanisms of energy balance.
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