News tagged with hypothalamus

Study identifies key shift in the brain that creates drive to overeat

A team of American and Italian neuroscientists has identified a cellular change in the brain that accompanies obesity. The findings could explain the body's tendency to maintain undesirable weight levels, rather than an ideal ...

Medical research created Apr 29, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The Fat Chip: Controlling obesity the smart way

(Medical Xpress)—Gastric banding, a common surgery to reduce obesity, leaves much to be desired. Typically, the patient is left with a feeling of constant hunger. Stimulators implanted in the feeding centers ...

Overweight and Obesity created Apr 09, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report

Hormone affects distance men keep from unknown women they find attractive

Men in committed relationships choose to keep a greater distance between themselves and an unknown woman they find attractive when given the hormone oxytocin, according to new research in the November 14 issue of The Journal of ...

Neuroscience created Nov 13, 2012 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Weight struggles? Blame new neurons in your hypothalamus

New nerve cells formed in a select part of the brain could hold considerable sway over how much you eat and consequently weigh, new animal research by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests in a study published in the May issue ...

Neuroscience created May 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Researchers reveal how a single gene mutation leads to uncontrolled obesity

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have revealed how a mutation in a single gene is responsible for the inability of neurons to effectively pass along appetite suppressing signals from the body to the right ...

Genetics created Mar 18, 2012 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Why smokers are thinner? Nicotine triggered appetite suppression site identified in brain

It is widely known that smoking inhibits appetite, but what is not known, is what triggers this process in the brain. Now researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, participating in a Yale University School of Medicine-led ...

Neuroscience created Jun 09, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Vicious cycle: Obesity sustained by changes in brain biochemistry

With obesity reaching epidemic levels in some parts of the world, scientists have only begun to understand why it is such a persistent condition. A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry adds substantially to the st ...

Medical research created May 16, 2013 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Brain region may hold key to aging

While the search continues for the Fountain of Youth, researchers may have found the body's "fountain of aging": the brain region known as the hypothalamus. For the first time, scientists at Albert Einstein ...

Neuroscience created May 01, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (21) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Molecular hub links obesity, heart disease to high blood pressure

(Medical Xpress)—Obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure (hypertension) are all related, but understanding the molecular pathways that underlie cause and effect is complicated.

Medical research created Apr 11, 2013 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Breakthrough in neuroscience could help re-wire appetite control

(Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have made a discovery in neuroscience that could offer a long-lasting solution to eating disorders such as obesity.

Neuroscience created Apr 05, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Arguments in the home linked with babies' brain functioning

Being exposed to arguments between parents is associated with the way babies' brains process emotional tone of voice, according to a new study to be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Ps ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 25, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Eat too much? Maybe it's in the blood

Bone marrow cells that produce brain-derived eurotrophic factor (BDNF), known to affect regulation of food intake, travel to part of the hypothalamus in the brain where they "fine-tune" appetite, said researchers from Baylor ...

Medical research created Feb 26, 2013 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Binge drinking increases risk of Type 2 diabetes by causing insulin resistance

Binge drinking causes insulin resistance, which increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes, according to the results of an animal study led by researchers at the Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism Institute at the Icahn School of ...

Diabetes created Jan 30, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study: Relaxation good therapy for hot flushes

Women who have undergone group therapy and learned to relax have reduced their menopausal troubles by half, according to results of a study at Linköping University and Linköping University Hospital in Sweden.

Health created Nov 23, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New clues to how the brain and body communicate to regulate weight

Maintaining a healthy body weight may be difficult for many people, but it's reassuring to know that our brains and bodies are wired to work together to do just that—in essence, to achieve a phenomenon known as energy balance, ...

Overweight and Obesity created Oct 26, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland (hypophysis). The hypothalamus, (from Greek ὑποθαλαμος = under the thalamus) is located below the thalamus, just above the brain stem. In the terminology of neuroanatomy, it forms the ventral part of the diencephalon. All vertebrate brains contain a hypothalamus. In humans, it is roughly the size of an almond.

The hypothalamus is responsible for certain metabolic processes and other activities of the Autonomic Nervous System. It synthesizes and secretes neurohormones, often called hypothalamic-releasing hormones, and these in turn stimulate or inhibit the secretion of pituitary hormones. The hypothalamus controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and circadian cycles.

For more information about Hypothalamus, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: neurons , brain , obesity , food intake , nerve cells