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Regulation of Food Intake

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Assessing Cellular Stress and Inflammation in Discrete Oxytocin-secreting Brain Nuclei in the Neonatal Rat Before and After First Colostrum Feeding
09:12

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Published on: November 14, 2018

Oxytocin and appetite.

Gareth Leng1, Tatsushi Onaka, Celine Caquineau

  • 1Centre for Integrative Physiology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh UK and Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.

Progress in Brain Research
|July 29, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Oxytocin influences feeding and social behaviors by acting on the hypothalamus. Its release from magnocellular neurons may shift motivation from feeding to reproduction.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroendocrinology
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

Background:

  • Oxytocin significantly impacts central feeding, social, and sexual behaviors.
  • The ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus is a key target for oxytocin's anorectic effects due to high oxytocin receptor density.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of oxytocin released from magnocellular neuron dendrites in regulating feeding and reproductive behaviors.
  • To understand the regulation of this non-synaptic oxytocin release by metabolic and reproductive signals.

Main Methods:

  • The study focuses on the neuroanatomical and neurophysiological actions of oxytocin within the hypothalamus.
  • Investigates the potential 'neurohormonal' actions of oxytocin, including dendritic release from magnocellular neurons.

Main Results:

  • Oxytocin receptors are abundant in the ventromedial hypothalamus, but oxytocin-containing fibers are scarce, suggesting neurohormonal action.
  • Dendritic oxytocin release is regulated independently of electrical activity and neurohypophyseal secretion.
  • Central oxytocin release from magnocellular neurons may mediate a fundamental shift in motivation from feeding to reproduction.

Conclusions:

  • Oxytocin's central release, particularly from magnocellular neuron dendrites, plays a crucial role in modulating motivated behaviors.
  • This mechanism may underlie the transition between feeding and reproductive drives, highlighting a novel regulatory pathway.