Kaba H

Influence of lesions of the limbic-hypothalamic system on adrenocortical responses to daily repeated heat exposures in rabbits.

The effects of lesions in the basal medial hypothalamus and limbic structure upon the responses of adrenocorticoids formation in adrenal slices of rabbits to daily repeated heat exposures has been investigated. (1) The adrenocortical responses to heat exposure on the 1st day were decreased by lesions in the periventricular arcuate nucleus (ARC), ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), stria terminalis (ST) and dorsal fornix (FX). (2) There were no effects of heat exposure on the 10th day upon the adrenocorticoid formation in either the sham-lesioned rabbits or the rabbits with the lesions of ARC, VMH and ST. (3) In rabbits with the FX lesions, the adrenocorticoids formation was significantly increased by heat exposure on the 10th day. (4) These results suggested that the basal medial hypothalamus, amygdala (AMYG)-ST system and dorsal hippocampus (HPC)-FX system participated in the mechanisms of adrenocortical responses to heat exposure on the 1st day, but only the HPC-FX system played some roles in complete disappearance process of adrenocortical responses to heat exposure by repetition of exposures.

Response of medial preoptic/anterior hypothalamic neurones to ventrolateral medulla stimulation and its attenuation by adrenoceptor antagonists.

Extracellular single-unit recordings were made from medial preoptic/anterior hypothalamic (MPOAH) neurones in urethane-anaesthetized female rats, and the responses of these neurones to electrical stimulation of the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) were investigated. Of 189 neurones tested, 20% were excited and 21% were inhibited following VLM stimulation. The latency of inhibitory responses showed a normal distribution and the mean latency was 47 ms, whereas the latency of excitatory responses showed a bimodal distribution with peaks in the ranges of 0-10 ms and 40-50 ms, respectively. Excitatory responses with latencies greater than 15 ms and inhibitory responses were significantly attenuated by intravenous injections of the alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist phenoxybenzamine but not the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol. In the light of these observations and the known anatomical and electrophysiological findings, it is suggested that A1 noradrenergic and/or C1 adrenergic inputs from the VLM to MPOAH neurones are, at least in part, mediated by alpha-adrenoceptors.

Modulation of Dendrodendritic Interactions in the Rat Olfactory Bulb by Locus Coeruleus Stimulation

Observations that noradrenaline induces enduring enhancement of the efficacy of a second transmitter in central synapses are intriguing and have attracted considerable attention, as the process may serve as a neuronal substrate for learning and memory. This may be true for synapses in the olfactory bulb (OB), as the significance of noradrenergic centrifugal inputs to the OB in olfactory learning has been noted in a number of models [1]. Noradrenergic terminals in the OB originate in the locus coeruleus (LC) [2]. However, the role of LC noradrenergic neurons in OB function has not been fully clarified. We therefore examined the effect of stimulation of the LC on mitral-granule cell interactions in the rat OB.