Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Song-Yu Li, Jing-Juan Cao, Kang Tan, Liu Fan, Ya-Qian Wang, Zi-Xuan Shen, Shuai-Shuai Li, Chao Wu, Hui Zhou, Hua-Tai Xu
Summary: Food cues play a pivotal role in triggering physiological responses and have a critical impact on obesity risk. This study revealed the crucial role of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-expressing neurons in the lateral hypothalamic area in promoting feeding behaviors in mice. The research also identified downstream targets and emphasized the involvement of CRH neuropeptide in orchestrating this regulatory network.
Article
Neurosciences
Mark A. Rossi, Marcus L. Basiri, Yuejia Liu, Yoshiko Hashikawa, Koichi Hashikawa, Lief E. Fenno, Yoon Seok Kim, Charu Ramakrishnan, Karl Deisseroth, Garret D. Stuber
Summary: The lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) contains distinct populations of glutamatergic neurons that project to different brain regions, with neurons projecting to the lateral habenula (LHb) or ventral tegmental area (VTA) showing anatomical, transcriptional, electrophysiological, and functional differences. Neurons projecting to the LHb are particularly sensitive to satiety state and feeding hormones, indicating differential processing of reward and aversion stimuli in divergent efferent pathways.
Article
Neurosciences
Joel D. Hahn, Lei Gao, Tyler Boesen, Lin Gou, Houri Hintiryan, Hong-Wei Dong
Summary: This study investigated the neuronal connections of the lateral preoptic area (LPO) and the caudally adjacent lateral hypothalamic area anterior region (LHAa) in mice. The results showed highly diverse connections of these hypothalamic regions with over 200 gray matter regions spanning the forebrain, midbrain, and rhombicbrain. These connections are associated with various functions including reward prediction, innate survival behaviors, and affect.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Review
Neurosciences
Mark A. Rossi
Summary: The lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) regulates energy balance through complex connections with other brain regions, leveraging distinct neuron populations. Recent studies have identified at least 30 different LHA neuron types, some of which influence specific aspects of energy homeostasis. This review highlights the emerging evidence from cell-type-specific investigations and proposes outstanding questions for future research.
TRENDS IN NEUROSCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Andrey Kostin, Md Aftab Alam, Anton Saevskiy, Dennis McGinty, Md Noor Alam
Summary: This study investigates the specific contribution of certain neurons in sleep regulation and finds that they play a critical role in suppressing wake-active neurons and promoting sleep.
Article
Neurosciences
Chong Song, Wei Wei, Tong Wang, Min Zhou, Yunshi Li, Bing Xiao, Dongyi Huang, Junwei Gu, Linyong Shi, Junjie Peng, Dianshi Jin
Summary: This study explored the mechanism of cognitive dysfunction in rats with hypothalamic obesity, finding that microglial infiltration and synapse loss mediated by the LHA in the hypothalamic-hippocampal circuit may be the underlying mechanism for memory impairments in these rats.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Patricia Seoane-Collazo, Amparo Romero-Pico, Eva Rial-Pensado, Laura Linares-Pose, Anxela Estevez-Salguero, Johan Ferno, Ruben Nogueiras, Carlos Dieguez, Miguel Lopez
Summary: Nicotine exerts a marked negative energy balance through regulation of brown adipose tissue and white adipose tissue, mainly controlled at the central level by modulation of hypothalamic neuropeptide systems and AMPK. The study reveals that the kappa opioid receptor signaling plays a crucial role in mediating the effects of nicotine on body weight loss.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biology
Anita E. Autry, Zheng Wu, Vikrant Kapoor, Johannes Kohl, Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku, Nimrod D. Rubinstein, Brenda Marin-Rodriguez, Ilaria Carta, Victoria Sedwick, Ming Tang, Catherine Dulac
Summary: Recent studies have revealed the activation of urocortin-3 (Ucn3)-expressing neurons in the hypothalamic perifornical area during infant-directed aggression, highlighting their role in the negative control of parenting. These neurons receive input from vomeronasal sensing, stress, and parenting-related areas, and their optogenetic activation triggers various infant-directed agonistic responses. Overall, these findings shed light on a dedicated neural circuit component involved in the regulation of infant-directed neglect and aggression.
Article
Neurosciences
Kseniia Prokofeva, Yuki C. Saito, Yasutaka Niwa, Seiya Mizuno, Satoru Takahashi, Arisa Hirano, Takeshi Sakurai
Summary: To understand the regulation of sleep-wakefulness cycles, it is important to study the relationship between the preoptic area (POA) and lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), which have opposing roles in sleep-wakefulness regulation. This study revealed the direct connection between GABA- and galanin-producing neurons in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO) and orexin-producing neurons in the LHA. It also discovered that the VLPOGABA-LHA pathway plays a previously unknown role in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Shiyi Zhao, Rui Li, Huiming Li, Sa Wang, Xinxin Zhang, Dan Wang, Juan Guo, Huihui Li, Ao Li, Tingting Tong, Haixing Zhong, Qianzi Yang, Hailong Dong
Summary: The study revealed the important regulatory role of LHA glutamatergic neurons and their projections to LHb in the timing and EEG features of anesthesia.
NEUROSCIENCE BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Zan Wang, Yu-Heng Zhong, Shan Jiang, Wei-Min Qu, Zhi-Li Huang, Chang-Rui Chen
Summary: This study reports three clinical cases with lesions around the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) area, showing excessive daytime sleepiness and prolonged nocturnal sleep. After treatment of their primary disorders, the excessive sleep decreased as the PVH area recovered.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Kuldeep Shrivastava, Thaarini Swaminathan, Alessandro Barlotta, Vikshar Athreya, Hassan Choudhry, Mark A. Rossi
Summary: Maternal overnutrition during gestation and lactation leads to increased body weight in offspring, which normalizes after weaning but predisposes them to diet-induced obesity in adulthood. This is associated with altered synaptic strength in an extended amygdala-lateral hypothalamic pathway, which is influenced by developmental growth rate.
MOLECULAR METABOLISM
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Cassia Thais Bussamra Vieira Zaia, Ernane Torres Uchoa, Angelo Alexander Torres dos Santos, Rachel Cezar de Andrade Ribeiro, Ana Carolina Seidel Batista, Jefferson Crespigio, Lawrence Utida, Galiano Brazuna Moura, Milene Lara Brownlow, Marcela Cristina Garnica-Siqueira, Wagner Luis Reis, Jose Antunes-Rodrigues, Dimas Augusto Morozin Zaia
Summary: Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) plays an important role in regulating food intake in the hypothalamus. This study investigated the metabolic changes and effects on food intake induced by different doses and times of VIP microinjection in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). The results showed that VIP increased glucose and insulin levels, promoted hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, and induced hypophagia. Furthermore, VIP attenuated food intake reduction when combined with L-arginine (L-Arg) and monosodium glutamate (MSG), and reduced nitrate concentration in the PVN.
BRAIN RESEARCH BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Brenda Abdelmesih, Robyn Anderson, Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku, Ilaria Carta, Anita E. Autry
Summary: Activation of PeFA(Ucn3) neurons promotes infant avoidance and aggression. Chronic restraint stress reduces pup-retrieval behavior in virgin females and increases activity of PeFA(Ucn3) neurons. Inhibition of PeFA(Ucn3) neurons mitigates the impact of stress on pup-directed behavior in virgin females.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Daniella Dusa, Tamas Ollmann, Veronika Kallai, Laszlo Lenard, Erika Kertes, Beata Berta, Adam Szabo, Kristof Laszlo, Rita Galosi, Olga Zagoracz, Zoltan Karadi, Laszlo Peczely
Summary: Sulpiride, a D2R antagonist, has been found to modulate learning processes and induce rewarding effects when microinjected into the VP. However, animals are unable to associate the rewarding effect with spatial locations.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)