Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 24, 2026

Author Spotlight: Hypothalamic Neural Mechanism Insights
Published on: August 4, 2023
Hypothalamic digoxin and brain function
Background And Objectives:
The study assessed the biochemical differences between right hemispheric-dominant and left hemispheric-dominant individuals. The chemical hemispheric-dominance in various systemic and neuropsychiatric diseases was also studied.
Methods:
The isoprenoid metabolites, digoxin, dolichol and ubiquinone, glycoconjugate metabolism, free radical metabolism and the RBC membrane composition, were studied in individuals with differing hemispheric-dominance. The digoxin levels and RBC membrane Na+-K+ATPase activity were also studied in systemic and neuropsychiatric diseases.
Results:
The results showed that right hemispheric-dominant individuals had elevated digoxin levels, increased free radical production and reduced scavenging, increased tryptophan catabolites and reduced tyrosine catabolites, increased glycoconjugate levels and increased cholesterol : phospholipid ratio of RBC membranes. Left hemispheric-dominant individuals had the opposite patterns. This patterns could be correlated with various systemic and neuropsychiatric diseases.
Conclusion:
Right hemispheric-dominance represents a hyperdigoxinaemic state with membrane sodium-potassium ATPase inhibition. Left hemispheric-dominance represents the reverse pattern with hypodigoxinaemia and membrane sodium-potassium ATPase stimulation. Hemispheric-dominance could predispose to various systemic and neuropsychiatric diseases.
Related Concept Videos
Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis
Diencephalon: Hypothalamus and Coordination
The hypothalamus interacts with other brain regions, including the pituitary gland, through a direct physical connection called the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. The hypothalamus receives somatic and visceral inputs and...
Major Hormones and Their Functions
Oxytocin, produced in the hypothalamus and released by the pituitary gland, plays a role in social bonding, childbirth, and...
Hormones of the Pituitary Gland
The most abundantly secreted hormone from the anterior lobe is the growth hormone, which controls overall growth by...
Gut-Brain Axis
Neurotransmitters

