Another hypothalamic ERα population with sexually dimorphic functions is that in the VMH, and multiple groups reported that ERα signals in the VMH in females (but not in males) prevent obesity primarily by stimulating energy expenditure (Musatov et al., 2007; Xu et al., 2011; Martinez de Morentin et al., 2014; Correa et al., 2015). Here, ESR1 is linked to obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.