Antagonistic interplay between hypocretin and leptin in the lateral hypothalamus regulates stress responses.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functions to coordinate behavioural and physiological responses to stress in a manner that depends on the behavioural state of the organism. However, the mechanisms through which arousal and metabolic states influence the HPA axis are poorly understood. Here using optogenetic approaches in mice, we show that neurons that produce hypocretin (Hcrt)/orexin in the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) regulate corticosterone release and a variety of behaviours and physiological hallmarks of the stress response. Interestingly, we found that Hcrt neuronal activity and Hcrt-mediated stress responses were inhibited by the satiety hormone leptin, which acts, in part, through a network of leptin-sensitive neurons in the LHA. These data demonstrate how peripheral metabolic signals interact with hypothalamic neurons to coordinate stress and arousal and suggest one mechanism through which hyperarousal or altered metabolic states may be linked with abnormal stress responses.

Place cells of aged rats in two visually identical compartments.

Aged rats perform poorly on spatial learning tasks, a cognitive impairment which has been linked to the failure of hippocampal networks to fully encode changes in the external environment [Barnes CA, Suster MS, Shen J, McNaughton BL. Multistability of cognitive maps in the hippocampus of old rats. Nature 1997;388(6639):272-5; Wilson IA, Ikonen S, Gureviciene I, McMahan RW, Gallagher M, Eichenbaum H, et al. Cognitive aging and the hippocampus: how old rats represent new environments. J Neurosci 2004;24(15):3870-8]. To examine whether the impairment in hippocampal processing extends to conditions in which self-motion provides the cues for environmental change, we have analyzed spatial firing patterns of hippocampal pyramidal neurons in young and aged rats, as well as in young rats with selective cholinergic lesions, another model of cognitive aging. The rats walked between two visually identical environments, pitting self-motion cues that indicated environmental change against visual inputs that indicated no differences between environments. Our results indicated that place cells in both aged and cholinergic-lesioned rats were equally likely as those of young rats to create new spatial representations in the second compartment. These findings suggest that the hippocampal network of aged rats is able to process changes in internally generated cues without rigidity, but that incomplete processing of external landmark cues may lead to impaired spatial learning.

Modulation of parabrachial taste neurons by electrical and chemical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus and amygdala.

The lateral hypothalamus (LH) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) exert an influence on ingestive behavior and are reciprocally connected to gustatory and viscerosensory areas, including the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) and the parabrachial nuclei (PbN). We investigated the effects of LH and CeA stimulation on the activity of 101 taste-responsive neurons in the hamster PbN. Eighty three of these neurons were antidromically activated by stimulation of these sites; 57 were antidromically driven by both. Of these 83 neurons, 21 were also orthodromically activated--8 by the CeA and 3 by the LH. Additional neurons were excited (n = 5) or inhibited (n = 8) by these forebrain nuclei but not antidromically activated. Taste stimuli were: 0.032 M sucrose, 0.032 M sodium chloride (NaCl), 0.032 M quinine hydrochloride (QHCl), and 0.0032 M citric acid. Among the 34 orthodromically activated neurons, more sucrose-best neurons were excited than inhibited, whereas the opposite occurred for citric-acid- and QHCl-best cells. Neurons inhibited by the forebrain responded significantly more strongly to citric acid and QHCl than cells excited by these sites. The effects of electrical stimulation were mimicked by microinjection of DL-homocysteic acid, indicating that cells at these forebrain sites were responsible for these effects. These data demonstrate that many individual PbN gustatory neurons project to both the LH and CeA and that these areas modulate the gustatory activity of a subset of PbN neurons. This neural substrate is likely involved in the modulation of taste activity by physiological and experiential factors.

[The effect of the lateral hypothalamic area on the pulmonary surfactant system]. / Vliianie lateral'nogo gipotalamicheskogo polia na surfaktantnuiu sistemu legkikh.

The level of lipids, lipase activity and lungs' blood capacity were studied on 62 rats. Dispersal cobalt was infused into the hypothalamic lateral area of rats with adrenalectomy or injected with droperidol, obsidan, reserpine. Their effect upon the hypothalamus involved a decrease in surfactant phospholipids and lung's blood capacity. Possible adrenergic mechanisms of affecting the lung surfactant system are discussed.

[Ultrastructure of cells of the lateral field of the hypothalamus of the cat after exposure to electromagnetic radiation]. / Ul'trastruktura kletok lateral'nogo polia gipotalamusa koshki posle deistviia élektromagnitnogo izlucheniia.

Under the effect of electromagnetic radiation not any specific changes are revealed in the neural system unequivocally characterizing disturbances in its structure as a result of an excess absorption of electromagnetic energy. The ultrastructural changes revealed in the lateral fields of the cat hypothalamus are suitable for a well known scheme demonstrating the course of the pathological process, where three phases are distinguished: reactive, destructive and restorative. The pathological process develops gradually. The reactive changes in neurons and synapses, observed immediately after withdrawal of the electromagnetic action. increase during the following three months and result in coarse destructive disorders and in death of some neurons and synapses. In 6 months certain signs of restoration of the structures are observed. Under the effect of electromagnetic radiation water redistribution between the structures takes place, the sympathetic terminals loosing their fluid. Thus, certain conditions are produced for sticking together the synaptic vesicles. Possibly that deficiency of Ca++ ions contributes to it.