Hypothalamus News and Research

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The Hypothalamus is the area of the brain that controls body temperature, hunger, and thirst.

Research Reveals How Gut Bacteria Influence Distant Organs Through Oxytocin Signaling

The gut microbiome, a community of trillions of microbes living in the human intestines, has an increasing reputation for affecting not only gut health but also the health of organs distant from the gut.

3 Nov 2023

Glucose-Sensing Neurons May Play a Role in Regulating Blood Sugar

The body's blood glucose level needs to be maintained in a relatively narrow range. It cannot be too high, as it can lead to diabetes, and it cannot be too low because it can cause fainting or even death.

12 Jul 2023

MIT Researchers Identify Brain Cells Most Susceptible to Neurodegeneration

Neurodegeneration, or the gradual loss of neuron function, is one of the key features of Alzheimer's disease.

20 Apr 2023

The Communication Between Brain and Liver After Fasting

The human body’s autophagy is triggered by fasting. The body activates the cells’ waste-removal mechanism and produces new energy. The brain plays a crucial part in this process, as researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne recently found in mice.

19 Apr 2023

The Relation Between an Autism Gene and Infertility

The biological foundations of a reproductive disease caused by a DNA mutation have been discovered by a University of California, Riverside study. Fragile X Syndrome, a major genetic contributor to cerebral impairment and autism, is also caused by this gene mutation.

5 Apr 2023

Study links neutral maternal behavior toward infants with epigenetic change in children

Adding evidence to the importance of early development, a new study links neutral maternal behavior toward infants with an epigenetic change in children related to stress response.

3 Mar 2023

Stress response in mom leads to epigenetic change in children

Adding evidence to the importance of early development, a new study links neutral maternal behavior toward infants with an epigenetic change in children related to stress response.

2 Mar 2023

Study charts seasonal and circadian genetic variation across the human body

The daily rotation of Earth and its yearly voyage around the Sun marks the natural rhythm of life on the planet.

14 Feb 2023

Maternal rhythms help to develop the suprachiasmatic nuclei’s “master clock”

According to a new study published May 24th, 2022, in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Alena Sumová and coworkers of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, genes within the fetus’s developing clock respond to rhythmic behavior in the mother during fetal development, first before the biological clock starts ticking on its own.

25 May 2022

Scientists decipher a direct dialog between the gut microbiota and the brain

Gut microbiota by-products circulate in the bloodstream, regulating host physiological processes including immunity, metabolism and brain functions.

From Institut Pasteur 18 Apr 2022

Hemoglobin plays role as a chemosensory signal for mother mice to protect offspring

Biochemists in Japan were surprised to discover that the molecule hemoglobin in the blood works not only as an oxygen carrier, but when the blood is spilled as a result of aggression, accident or predator attack, the molecule also acts as a chemosensory signal -; a chemical stimulus picked up by the senses, namely smell in this case -; for lactating mother mice, prompting digging or rearing behavior in them to check the surrounding environment and keep their offspring safe.

11 Feb 2022

Mice study shows how air pollution reduces sperm count by causing brain inflammation

Researchers have long known that air pollution can increase the risk of disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and fertility, but they did not know the exact mechanism for how it can lead to these health conditions.

26 Oct 2021

High fat diets lead to over-eating and obesity in rats by disturbing the body clock

When rats are fed a high fat diet, this disturbs the body clock in their brain that normally controls satiety, leading to over-eating and obesity. That's according to new research published in The Journal of Physiology.

7 Sep 2021

Tiny population of neurons may play a significant role in depression

A tiny population of neurons known to be important to appetite appear to also have a significant role in depression that results from unpredictable, chronic stress, scientists say.

12 Feb 2021

Hormone that suppresses food intake could help tackle obesity

A hormone that can suppress food intake and increase the feeling of fullness in mice has shown similar results in humans and non-human primates, says a new study published today in eLife.

25 Nov 2020

Study shows how fear and aggression are regulated

Our brains are wired to protect us from threats. For social animals like humans, threats often come from other members of our own species when there is conflict over food, mates, or territory.

30 Oct 2020

Researchers find genetic correlations between inflammatory bowel disease and stress, depression

Using sophisticated 3D genomic mapping and integrating with public data resulting from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found significant genetic correlations between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and stress and depression.

30 Oct 2020

Genetic differences between domesticated and wild chickens linked to epigenetic changes

Some of the genetic differences that have arisen between domesticated chickens and their wild ancestors, the red junglefowl, are linked to epigenetic changes, according to a new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

22 Sep 2020

Study shows how DUSP8 protein regulates glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity

The brain plays a major role in controlling our blood glucose levels. In type 2 diabetics this glucose metabolism brain control is often dysfunctional. Genetic components for this phenomenon have so far remained elusive.

24 Aug 2020

Oxytocin can help control and prevent osteoporosis

Oxytocin, produced by the hypothalamus and sometimes known as the "love hormone" for its involvement in pair bonding and orgasm, can be a strong ally in the control and prevention of osteoporosis, according to a study by scientists at São Paulo State University in Brazil.

11 Aug 2020