Hibernating creatures curl up underground in winter, slowing their metabolism so they can make it to spring without food. Even laboratory mice, if deprived of food, can enter a state called torpor, a kind of standby mode that economizes energy. But as scientists work to understand states like torpor and hibernation, tantalizing details about how the brain controls metabolism have emerged. Researchers reported in the journal Nature Metabolism on Thursday that they’ve been able to send mice into a torpor-like state by targeting a specific part of the brain with short bursts of ultrasound. A growing body of work is exploring ultrasound as a treatment for disorders like depression and anxiety.

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Persons: they’ve, neuroscientists, Hong Chen, Louis, William Tyler Organizations: Washington University, University of Alabama Locations: St, Birmingham