This study aimed to examine the function of the tuberomammillary complex in water and food intake of Wistar rats. The results show that lesions restricted to tuberomammillary subnuclei: caudal ventral tuberomammillary nucleus (E1), rostral ventral tuberomammillary nucleus (E2), medial ventral tuberomammillary nucleus (E3) or medial dorsal tuberomammillary nucleus (E4), induce a strong and persi...

Long-term studies have revealed that the structure and dynamics of many tropical forests are changing, but the causes and consequences of these changes remain debated. To learn more about the forces driving changes within tropical forests, we investigated shifts in tree species composition over the past 25 years within the 50-ha Forest Dynamics Plot on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama, and e...

Summer rainfall in the Sahel region of Africa exhibits one of the largest signals of climatic variability and with a population reliant on agricultural productivity, the Sahel is particularly vulnerable to major droughts such as occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Rainfall levels have subsequently recovered, but future projections remain uncertain. Here we show that Sahel rainfall is skilfully pre...

This study investigated the effects of bilateral injections of a serotonin (5-HT) receptor agonist into the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN) on the intake of NaCl and water induced by 24-h water deprivation or by sodium depletion followed by 24 h of sodium deprivation (injection of the diuretic furosemide plus 24 h of sodium-deficient diet). Rats had stainless steel cannulas implanted bilate...

A lesion of the subfornical organ (SFO) may disrupt drinking after a meal of dry chow as it does drinking after intragastric administration of hypertonic saline. Food and water intakes of SFO-lesioned (SFOX) and sham-lesioned rats were measured during 90-min tests following various lengths of food deprivation. During the tests, all rats began eating before they began drinking. After 20-24 h of ...

Water deprivation activates sympathoexcitatory neurons in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN); however, the neurotransmitters that mediate this activation are unknown. To test the hypothesis that ANG II and glutamate are involved, effects on blood pressure (BP) of bilateral PVN microinjections of ANG II type 1 receptor (AT1R) antagonists, candesartan and valsartan, or the ionotropic glutamate rec...

Water deprivation produces a drive to seek and consume water. How neural activity creates this motivation remains poorly understood. We used activity-dependent genetic labeling to characterize neurons activated by water deprivation in the hypothalamic median preoptic nucleus (MnPO). Single-cell transcriptional profiling revealed that dehydration-activated MnPO neurons consist of a single excita...

This study investigates the effect of water deprivation on the expression of atrial natiruretic peptide (ANP)(1-28) binding sites in rat kidney. Water deprivation increased the B(max) of glomerular binding sites for ANP(1-28) and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP)(1-22) without modifying their affinity, an effect that was prevented in the presence of C-atrial natriuretic factor (C-ANF), suggestin...

OBJECTIVE To analyse the prevalence of neural tube defects in small geographical areas and seek to explain any spatial variations with reference to environmental lead and deprivation. SETTING The Fylde of Lancashire in the north west of England. DESIGN Cases were ascertained as part of a prospective survey of major congenital malformations in babies born in the Fylde to residents there betw...