Hunger, Eating and Health - Physiological research on Hunger and Satiety - Myth of Hypothalamic Hunger and Satiety Centers

6 important questions on Hunger, Eating and Health - Physiological research on Hunger and Satiety - Myth of Hypothalamic Hunger and Satiety Centers

Which two regions in the hyopthalamus are involved in eating behavior? 

What do they control?

1. VMH (ventromedial hypothalamus): Satiety.

2. LH (lateral hypothalamus): Hunger/feeding.

How were the eating behavior functions of the LH and VMH discovered?

1. VMH: When a VMH-lesion was administered in rats, they started eating excessively and became very fast obese. This is also called hyperphagia.

2. LH: If the same legion was administered in rats in the LH, it produced aphagia. This means they have a complete cessation of eating. 

What are the two phases of the VMH syndrome?

1. dynamic phase; a few weeks of gross excessive eating. 

2. static phase; consumption gradually declines and a stable level of obesity is reached. The interesting aspect is the fact that if they are forced to eat more/less after this phase... they will do and gain/loose weight, but once they can decide for themselves... they will go back to their stable weight they had. 

Also, these rats did not do any effort to eat and only palatable food was preferred. This is an consequence of the obesity, not the lesion.

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What are two important features of the LH-syndrome? 

1. Aphagia is accompanied by adipsia - complete cessation of drinking.

2. LH-resioned rats partially recover is they are kept alive by tube feeding. They will also start eating a bit again.

There are two lines of evidence that the VMH is a regulator of energy metabolism rather than regulation of eating. What are these two lines of evidence?

1. VMH-lesions increase blood insulin levels, which will increase lipogenesis and decrease lipolysis. Because the calories are converted to fat at a high rate, rats will have to eat more to ensure enough calories in their blood to meet their immediate energy requirements.

2. It was discovered that the VMH lesions also damaged a large fiber bundle nearby; the ventral noradrenergic bundle, and also fibers projecting from the paraventricular nuclei were damages.

Bilateral lesions of the ventral noradrenergic bundle also showed hyperphagia and obesity... 

What is the evidence against the fact that LH is a feeding/hunger centrum?

They discovered that LH lesions provide a wide range of severe motor disturbances, not wanting to drink and eat are just two examples. 

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