Previous reports indicate that growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) is involved in sleep regulation. The site of action mediating the nonrapid eye movement sleep (NREMS)-promoting effects of GHRH is not known, but it is independent from the pituitary. GHRH (0.001, 0. 01, and 0.1 nmol/kg) or a competitive antagonist of GHRH (0.003, 0.3, and 14 nmol/kg) was microinjected into the preoptic area...

In the light of physiological data it is certain that there is a close functional correlation between the amygdaloid body and the hypo-thalamus and preoptic area. These areas are vital for emotional reactions and affect drives and endocrinal functions. A damage of amygdaloid nuclei causes changes in behavior very similar to those following partial lesions of the hypothalamus and preoptic area (...

Considerable evidence supports the role of prostaglandins in fever production, but the neuroanatomic sites of prostaglandin synthesis that produce fever remain unknown. With the use of a novel microinjection technique, we injected the cyclooxygenase inhibitor ketorolac into the preoptic area (POA) to determine which preoptic regions produce the prostaglandins required for fever. Initial experim...

Copulatory behaviors are generally dependent on testicular androgens in male vertebrates, being eliminated by castration and reinstated by testosterone administration. It is postulated that a critical factor in this hormonal gating is up-regulation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in the preoptic area, and consequent enhanced nitric oxide synthesis in response to stimuli associated with...

Mice display robust, stereotyped behaviours towards pups: virgin males typically attack pups, whereas virgin females and sexually experiencedmales and females display parental care. Here we show that virginmales genetically impaired in vomeronasal sensing do not attack pups and are parental. Furthermore, we uncover a subset of galanin-expressing neurons in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) that a...

The median preoptic nucleus (MnPN) and the ventrolateral preoptic area (vlPOA) contain putative sleep-regulatory neurons that exhibit elevated discharge rates during sleep compared with waking. Expression of c-Fos protein immunoreactivity (IR) in GABAergic neurons in the MnPN and the vlPOA is high in spontaneously sleeping rats and in rats undergoing recovery sleep after sleep deprivation. Howe...

Lesions in the medial forebrain bundle rostral to a stimulating electrode have variable effects on the rewarding efficacy of self-stimulation. We attempted to account for this variability by measuring the anatomical and functional effects of electrolytic lesions at the level of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and by correlating these effects to postlesion changes in threshold pulse frequency (pps...