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Hypothalamus

About: Hypothalamus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 22301 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1085925 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An atlas of the distribution of the alpha-atrial natriuretic polypeptide-containing neuronal system in the rat brain is given and the groundwork for studying the influence of this new peptide on various brain functions is provided.

262 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It seems the psychogenic responses to stress are gated by discrete sets of GABAergic neurons in the basal forebrain and hypothalamus, which may play a major role in HPA dysfunction seen in affective disease states and aging.
Abstract: GABA and glutamate play a major role in central integration of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) stress responses. Recent work in our group has focused on mechanisms whereby GABAergic and glutamatergic circuits interact with parvocellular paraventricular nucleus (PVN) neurons controlling the HPA axis. GABAergic neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, preoptic area, and hypothalamus can directly inhibit PVN outflow and thereby reduce ACTH secretion. In contrast, glutamate activates the HPA axis, presumably by way of hypothalamic and brainstem projections to the PVN. These inhibitory and excitatory PVN-projecting neurons are controlled by descending information from limbic forebrain structures, including glutamatergic neurons of the ventral subiculum, prefrontal cortex, and GABAergic cells from the amygdala and perhaps septum. Lesion studies indicate that the ventral subiculum and prefrontal cortex are involved in inhibition of HPA axis responses to psychogenic stimuli, whereas the amygdala is positioned to enhance hormone secretion by way of GABA-GABA disinhibitory connections. Thus, it seems the psychogenic responses to stress are gated by discrete sets of GABAergic neurons in the basal forebrain and hypothalamus. As such, these neurons are positioned to summate limbic inputs into net inhibitory tone on the PVN and may thus play a major role in HPA dysfunction seen in affective disease states and aging.

262 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Electrophysiologic manifestation of the hypothalamic 'pulse generator' which governs the secretion of hypothalamic luteinizing hormone releasing hormone provides, for the first time, direct access to the central component of the neuroendocrine control system which regulates reproductive processes in this higher primate.
Abstract: Characteristic increases in neuronal activity coincident with the pulsatile release of luteinizing hormone from the pituitary gland have been recorded from electrodes chronically implanted in the medial basal hypothalamus of the rhesus monkey. This electrophysiologic manifestation of the hypothalamic 'pulse generator' which governs the secretion of hypothalamic luteinizing hormone releasing hormone provides, for the first time, direct access to the central component of the neuroendocrine control system which regulates reproductive processes in this higher primate.

262 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
20 May 1982-Nature
TL;DR: The discovery of large amounts of oxytocin within the ovine corpus luteum reported here may provide an explanation of why there may exist different controls of reflex release and basal secretion of Oxytocin.
Abstract: Oxytocin is a nonapeptide hormone produced by the hypothalamus and released from the posterior pituitary. It is cleaved from a large molecular weight precursor which is synthesized in cell bodies of hypothalamic magnocellular neurones and then packaged into membrane-bound granules1. During axonal transport the precursor is cleaved to produce oxytocin and an oxytocin-related neurophysin. Apart from its established roles in lactation and labour, oxytocin is thought to be an important regulator of the oestrous cycle; it causes luteolysis in cattle2 and immunization against oxytocin increases the length of the ovine oestrous cycle3, McCracken4 has proposed that oxytocin acts by stimulating prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) release from the uterine endometrium and that steroid hormones regulate PGF2α secretion by altering the availability of endometrial oxytocin receptors4,5. Steriods may also have a direct influence on oxytocin release from the posterior pituitary, oestradiol-17β increasing and progesterone inhibiting oxytocin secretion in response to vaginal distension in the goat6,7. However, recent radioimmunoassay (RIA) measurements of peripheral oxytocin levels during the ovine oestrous cycle8–10 consistently show that oxytocin and progesterone concentrations increase and decrease in synchrony during the luteal phase, reaching basal levels after luteolysis at a time when oestradiol-17β titres are known to rise11. Therefore, there may exist different controls of reflex release and basal secretion of oxytocin, and our discovery of large amounts of oxytocin within the ovine corpus luteum reported here may provide an explanation.

262 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is concluded that melatonin mediates phase advances of the SCN circadian clock at both dusk and dawn via activation of MT(2) melatonin receptor signaling.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to identify the melatonin receptor type(s) (MT1 or MT2) mediating circadian clock resetting by melatonin in the mammalian suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Quantitative recep...

261 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023425
2022950
2021295
2020316
2019326
2018289