For several years it has been known that somatostatin is synthesized by paraventricular cells in the wall of the third ventricle (Elde these cells are not aggregated into a nucleus, but are always located separately in maximally three to four short lines that run parallel to the ventricular wall within an area extending from the preoptic nucleus to the rostral pole of the median eminence. In a ...

Leptin, a circulating hormone produced by adipose tissue, is believed to act on the hypothalamus to increase sympathetic vasomotor activity, in addition to its well-known effects on appetite and energy expenditure. In this study, we determined the cardiovascular effects of direct application of leptin to specific cell groups within the hypothalamus that are known to be activated by circulating ...

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome is associated with either fever or hypothermia, but the mechanisms responsible for switching from one to the other are unknown. In experimental animals, systemic inflammation is often induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). To identify the diencephalic and brainstem structures involved in the fever-hypothermia switch, we studied the expression of c...

Salter-Venzon D, Watts AG. The role of hypothalamic ingestive behavior controllers in generating dehydration anorexia: a Fos mapping study. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 295: R1009–R1019, 2008. First published July 30, 2008; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.90425.2008.— Giving rats 2.5% saline to drink for 3–5 days simply and reliably generates anorexia. Despite having the neurochemical and hormona...

Women recover from sleep deprivation more efficiently than men, but the mechanism for this difference is unknown. Effects of estrogen on sleep suggest that it could play a role, but the brain targets on which estrogen may act to have this effect have not been identified. Sleep deprivation increases levels of the immediate-early gene protein c-Fos in selected brain regions, but it is unknown whe...