Given the disease burden and health costs associated with the rising prevalence of obesity and associated comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, there is a growing need to find effective, safe, and well-tolerated therapies to treat obese patients (Flegal et al., 1998). Although currently available antiobesity medications are modestly effective, in some subjects they are accompanied by significant adverse effects. In recent years, substantial advances have been made in the understanding of central pathways involved in the regulation of feeding behavior and energy homeostasis (Schwartz et al., 2000). Many of the agents presently in early-stage clinical trials act on these central pathways, reflecting the consensus that the brain exerts a major influence on feeding behavior and peripheral metabolism through the autonomic nervous system.