Role of amygdala in feeding and drinking induced by single cortical spreading depression in the rat

Possible involvement of the amygdala in feeding and drinking induced by a single wave of unilateral cortical spreading depression (CSD) was studied in rats. (1) Control animals started their first feeding or drinking in a peak one min after CSD, elicited from the occipital cortex, had expired at the boundaries of the frontal cortex. (2) The peak onset of feeding and drinking mentioned above coincided with the CSD entrance of the amygdala. (3) The peak onset of feeding, but not drinking, remained unchanged in the group with the amygdala lesion contralateral to CSD. (4) Mean incidence of feeding was lower in the group with the amygdala lesion ipsilateral to CSD than in the contralateral group. (5) Results are discussed in relation to the amygdalo-hypothalamic as well as cortico-hypothalamic interaction.