Hypothalamus News and Research

RSS

The Hypothalamus is the area of the brain that controls body temperature, hunger, and thirst.

$2.3 million NIH grant to support new project on oxytocin neurons and social behavior

A team of Penn State researchers is planning to create a new map of the brain that will establish a neural circuit diagram of oxytocin, a compound often associated with affection and emotional behavior. Researchers hope the map will give them insight into how oxytocin in the brain drives social behavior.

24 May 2018

Study defines molecular basis to explain connection between mother’s nutrition and infant growth

For years, pregnant mothers have questioned their nutritional habits: "Will eating more cause my baby to be overweight?" Or, "I'm eating for two, so it won't hurt to have an extra serving, right?"

24 May 2018

Early-life obesity linked to children's lower perceptual reasoning and working memory scores

A new study by Brown University epidemiologists found that children on the threshold of obesity or overweight in the first two years of life had lower perceptual reasoning and working memory scores than lean children when tested at ages five and eight. The study also indicated that IQ scores may be lower for higher-weight children.

23 May 2018

Disruption of the body's circadian rhythm linked to increased risk of breast cancer

For years, doctors have associated the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations with an increased risk of breast cancer.

9 May 2018

Surprising discovery offers new model for studying role of gap junctions in the brain

The same kind of neurons can have completely different wiring diagrams in the rat and mouse, as mice lack intercellular molecular channels known as gap junctions, researchers at Karolinska Institutet report in the scientific journal eLIFE.

4 May 2018

Research team uncovers link between circadian clock and aggression center in the brain

Each year around many people worldwide are diagnosed with a form of dementia. Alzheimer's disease is one of them. The disease manifests itself in memory difficulties in particular, but can also result in personality changes and mood swings.

2 May 2018

Study explains why intense exercise curbs appetite

Ever wonder why intense exercise temporarily curbs your appetite? In research described in today's issue of PLOS Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers reveal that the answer is all in your head - more specifically, your arcuate nucleus.

25 Apr 2018

Stress may induce neurotransmitter switching that contributes to chemical imbalances in the brain

Five years ago, a team of University of California San Diego neurobiologists published surprising findings describing how rats' brain cells adopted new chemical codes when subjected to significant changes in natural light exposure--much as humans suffer from "winter blues," the type of depression known as seasonal affective disorder.

24 Apr 2018

Genome editing identifies neural circuit behind leptin’s anti-obesity and anti-diabetes effects

Revealing surprising answers to a long-standing enigma about the brain target of the anti-obesity hormone leptin, neuroscientists at Tufts University School of Medicine have used CRISPR genome editing to identify a neural circuit in the hypothalamus as the primary mechanism in mediating leptin's anti-obesity and anti-diabetes effects and have identified two distinct mechanisms underlying leptin's inhibition of appetite.

19 Apr 2018

Study proposes new mechanism that may contribute to gender differences in weight control

For years, scientists have observed that when male and female mice eat the same high-fat diet, the males gain significantly more weight than the females.

18 Apr 2018

Study reveals unexpected mechanism that induces thirst after alcohol or sugar exposure

Why does drinking alcohol or consuming sugar make us thirsty? An international study of mice in Texas and humans in Europe reveals an unexpected anti-dehydration mechanism.

12 Apr 2018

Largest-ever study to examine anatomical alterations in the brains of epilepsy patients

An international research consortium used neuroimaging techniques to analyze the brains of more than 3,800 volunteers in different countries. The largest study of its kind ever conducted set out to investigate anatomical similarities and differences in the brains of individuals with different types of epilepsy and to seek markers that could help with prognosis and treatment.

4 Apr 2018

Tadpole metamorphosis found to be controlled by fat-sensing hormone

When tadpoles are but tadpoles, they're voracious eaters, chomping down all of the plant matter in their paths.

29 Mar 2018

Maternal obesity and androgen excess induce sex-specific anxiety in offspring, study suggests

Maternal obesity and androgen excess induce sex-specific anxiety in the offspring, according to a study on mice by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in The FASEB Journal.

22 Mar 2018

New study identifies the body's 'glucostat'

It is the pancreatic islets that have the overall responsibility for maintaining normal blood glucose levels in our bodies, according to a new study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, USA.

6 Mar 2018

Brain's quality control process holds clues to obesity's roots

Deep in the middle of our heads lies a tiny nub of nerve cells that play a key role in how hungry we feel, how much we eat, and how much weight we gain. Around the clock, they produce a "grandfather" form of several hormones that help us regulate these crucial functions.

20 Feb 2018

Chemist finds how to control blood sugar without usual side effects

Chemist Robert Doyle in the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University has figured out how to control glucose levels in the bloodstream without the usual side effects of nausea, vomiting or malaise.

11 Feb 2018

Dim light may affect your ability to learn and remember, suggests new study

A new study found that prolonged exposure to dim light may alter the brain's structure, and impair an individual’s ability to remember and learn.

6 Feb 2018

Neuroscientists identify 'anxiety cells' in the brain's hippocampus

Do your palms sweat when you walk down a poorly lit street at night? That feeling may be traced to the firing of newly identified "anxiety" cells deep inside your brain, according to new research from neuroscientists at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

31 Jan 2018

Curcumin could provide meaningful cognitive benefits, study suggests

Lovers of Indian food, give yourselves a second helping: Daily consumption of a certain form of curcumin -- the substance that gives Indian curry its bright color -- improved memory and mood in people with mild, age-related memory loss, according to the results of a study conducted by UCLA researchers.

23 Jan 2018