Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Author Spotlight: Hypothalamic Neural Mechanism Insights
09:29

Author Spotlight: Hypothalamic Neural Mechanism Insights

Published on: August 4, 2023

4.8K

Hormonal and nutritional regulation of postnatal hypothalamic development

Luba Sominsky1, Christine L Jasoni2, Hannah R Twigg2

  • 1School of Health and Biomedical SciencesRMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

The Journal of Endocrinology
|March 17, 2018
PubMed

Insights

The hypothalamus, crucial for appetite, stress, and reproduction, develops significantly after birth. Environmental factors during this perinatal period can alter its function, but adult brain plasticity offers hope for recovery.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Endocrinology

Background:

  • The hypothalamus regulates essential functions like appetite, stress, and reproduction.
  • Hypothalamic development starts prenatally and continues postnatally, with critical fine-tuning occurring during the perinatal period.
  • The perinatal environment can significantly impact hypothalamic development and adult function.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review recent findings on postnatal development of hypothalamic metabolic, stress, and reproductive circuits in rodents.
  • To focus on perinatal programming of these circuits by hormonal and nutritional factors.
  • To explore evidence for continuous hypothalamic development in adult brains.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of recent scientific knowledge.
  • Focus on rodent models for hypothalamic development.
  • Analysis of hormonal and nutritional influences during the perinatal period.

Main Results:

  • Postnatal milestones in hypothalamic circuit development are detailed.
  • Perinatal programming by hormones and nutrition significantly impacts hypothalamic function.
  • Adult neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, and epigenetic modifications indicate ongoing hypothalamic development.

Conclusions:

  • The hypothalamus undergoes significant postnatal development and is susceptible to perinatal environmental influences.
  • Adult hypothalamic plasticity, including neurogenesis and epigenetics, may allow for partial reversal of perinatal mal-programming.

Keywords:
fertilitymetabolismperinatalprogrammingstress

More Related Videos

Dual Somatic Recordings from Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone GnRH Neurons Identified by Green Fluorescent Protein GFP in Hypothalamic Slices09:30

Dual Somatic Recordings from Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone GnRH Neurons Identified by Green Fluorescent Protein GFP in Hypothalamic Slices

Published on: February 23, 2010

22.7K
Use of a Caspase Multiplexing Assay to Determine Apoptosis in a Hypothalamic Cell Model08:27

Use of a Caspase Multiplexing Assay to Determine Apoptosis in a Hypothalamic Cell Model

Published on: April 16, 2014

16.4K

Related Concept Videos

Hormonal Regulation01:33

Hormonal Regulation

The renin-aldosterone system is an endocrine system which guides the renal absorption of water and electrolytes, thus managing blood pressure and osmoregulation. Activation of the system begins in the kidneys with a small cluster of cells adjacent to the afferent and efferent blood vessels of the renal corpuscle. As the nephrons are filtering blood, juxtaglomerular cells monitor blood pressure. If they detect a decrease in pressure, they release the hormone renin into the bloodstream.
36.2K
Hormonal Regulation01:40

Hormonal Regulation

Hormones regulate a significant portion of digestion through activation of the neuroendocrine system. The neuroendocrine system of digestion contains many different hormones all with multiple functions that are both, directly and indirectly, involved in digestion.
48.3K
Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis01:37

Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis

The response to stress—be it physical or psychological, acute or chronic—involves activation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis is part of the neuroendocrine system because it involves both neuronal and hormonal communication. Its function is to regulate homeostatic systems—metabolic, cardiovascular, and immune—providing the necessary means to respond to a stressor.
66.5K
Regulation of Hormone Secretion01:19

Regulation of Hormone Secretion

Regulation of hormone secretion is a finely tuned orchestration driven by various types of stimuli, encompassing neural, humoral, and hormonal signals. Environmental cues instigate neural stimuli, where action potentials traverse nerve fibers to reach their designated targets. An illustrative scenario is the body's response to stress, wherein the sympathetic nervous system releases epinephrine from the adrenal glands, inducing the well-known 'fight or flight' reaction.
Humoral...
7.0K
Synthesis and Regulation of Thyroid Hormones01:20

Synthesis and Regulation of Thyroid Hormones

Low blood levels of the thyroid hormones — triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) — signal the hypothalamus to release the thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). TRH then reaches the pituitary gland and stimulates the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone(TSH) into the bloodstream.
Upon reaching the thyroid gland, TSH stimulates the follicular cells' active uptake of iodide ions from the blood. The ions diffuse to the apical surface of the cells and are oxidized to iodine. The...
8.0K
Hormonal Regulation of the Menstrual Cycle01:22

Hormonal Regulation of the Menstrual Cycle

The ovarian cycle regulates endometrial changes throughout a single menstrual cycle via the coordinated action of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and gonadotrophins.
At puberty, GnRH begins a pulsatile release pattern, which triggers the anterior pituitary gland to secrete follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). The frequency and amplitude of GnRH pulses vary across the menstrual cycle, with faster pulses favoring LH release and slower pulses favoring FSH...
1.7K