Biomaterial Database

A comparison of taste reactivity changes induced by ventromedial hypothalamic lesions and stria terminalis transections. 1988

R M Black, and H P Weingarten

Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

A hyperreactivity to the sensory qualities of a food, i.e., finickiness, is a defining feature of the ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) lesion syndrome. The precise anatomical locus mediating this disturbance has not been determined. This study examines the hypothesis that interruption of amygdalo-hypothalamic connections (either ascending or descending) via the stria terminalis (ST) is involved in VMH lesion-induced finickiness. Taste reactivity was assessed in animals with VMH lesions, ST knife cuts, combined VMH/ST damage, and controls. In sham feeding tests of taste reactivity, ST and VMH rats were equally hyperreactive compared to controls. Rats with combined VMH and ST damage, however, were more reactive than both these groups. None of the brain lesions resulted in an overreactivity to quinine adulteration of the diet. In contrast to sham feeding, ST rats were not hyperphagic when feeding normally, although VMH rats were. In fact, ST damage attenuated VMH-induced hyperphagia and weight gain. We conclude that the taste reactivity changes induced by VMH lesions and ST transections are independent and additive indicating that VMH finickiness does not involve disruption of amygdalo-hypothalamic connections. Nonetheless, disruption of the ST produces a dramatic change in taste reactivity and the properties and origins of this disturbance are discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D006963	Hyperphagia	Ingestion of a greater than optimal quantity of food.	Overeating,Polyphagia,Polyphagias
D007033	Hypothalamus, Middle	Middle portion of the hypothalamus containing the arcuate, dorsomedial, ventromedial nuclei, the TUBER CINEREUM and the PITUITARY GLAND.	Hypothalamus, Medial,Intermediate Hypothalamic Region,Hypothalamic Region, Intermediate,Hypothalamic Regions, Intermediate,Intermediate Hypothalamic Regions,Medial Hypothalamus,Middle Hypothalamus,Region, Intermediate Hypothalamic,Regions, Intermediate Hypothalamic
D008297	Male		Males
D011803	Quinine	An alkaloid derived from the bark of the cinchona tree. It is used as an antimalarial drug, and is the active ingredient in extracts of the cinchona that have been used for that purpose since before 1633. Quinine is also a mild antipyretic and analgesic and has been used in common cold preparations for that purpose. It was used commonly and as a bitter and flavoring agent, and is still useful for the treatment of babesiosis. Quinine is also useful in some muscular disorders, especially nocturnal leg cramps and myotonia congenita, because of its direct effects on muscle membrane and sodium channels. The mechanisms of its antimalarial effects are not well understood.	Biquinate,Legatrim,Myoquin,Quinamm,Quinbisan,Quinbisul,Quindan,Quinimax,Quinine Bisulfate,Quinine Hydrochloride,Quinine Lafran,Quinine Sulfate,Quinine Sulphate,Quinine-Odan,Quinoctal,Quinson,Quinsul,Strema,Surquina,Bisulfate, Quinine,Hydrochloride, Quinine,Sulfate, Quinine,Sulphate, Quinine
D004032	Diet	Regular course of eating and drinking adopted by a person or animal.	Diets
D005247	Feeding Behavior	Behavioral responses or sequences associated with eating including modes of feeding, rhythmic patterns of eating, and time intervals.	Dietary Habits,Eating Behavior,Faith-based Dietary Restrictions,Feeding Patterns,Feeding-Related Behavior,Food Habits,Diet Habits,Eating Habits,Behavior, Eating,Behavior, Feeding,Behavior, Feeding-Related,Behaviors, Eating,Behaviors, Feeding,Behaviors, Feeding-Related,Diet Habit,Dietary Habit,Dietary Restriction, Faith-based,Dietary Restrictions, Faith-based,Eating Behaviors,Eating Habit,Faith based Dietary Restrictions,Faith-based Dietary Restriction,Feeding Behaviors,Feeding Pattern,Feeding Related Behavior,Feeding-Related Behaviors,Food Habit,Habit, Diet,Habit, Dietary,Habit, Eating,Habit, Food,Habits, Diet,Pattern, Feeding,Patterns, Feeding,Restrictions, Faith-based Dietary
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013395	Sucrose	A nonreducing disaccharide composed of GLUCOSE and FRUCTOSE linked via their anomeric carbons. It is obtained commercially from SUGARCANE, sugar beet (BETA VULGARIS), and other plants and used extensively as a food and a sweetener.	Saccharose
D013649	Taste	The ability to detect chemicals through gustatory receptors in the mouth, including those on the TONGUE; the PALATE; the PHARYNX; and the EPIGLOTTIS.	Gustation,Taste Sense,Gustations,Sense, Taste,Senses, Taste,Taste Senses,Tastes
D014697	Ventromedial Hypothalamic Nucleus	A nucleus of the middle hypothalamus, the largest cell group of the tuberal region with small-to-medium size cells.	Hypothalamic Nucleus, Ventromedial,Nucleus, Ventromedial Hypothalamic