The chemical nature of the hypothalamocortical activation underlying drinking behavior

The injection of cholinergic substances (carbocholine, carbathin [karbatin], acetylcholine) into the lateral field of the hypothalamus of cats is accompanied by the appearance in the electrohypothalamogram of characteristic hypersynchronized activity and drinking behavior. The swallowing of water temporarily stops the hypersynchronized activity; the injection of adrenaline into the hypothalamus elicits the same effect. The injection of the same cholinergic preparations into the posterior sigmoid gyrus of the cerebral cortex is accompanied by similar, but less pronounced bioelectrical and behavioral effects. The presentation of a closed drink dispenser containing water to the animals against the background of cholinergic activation of the hypothalamus or cortex leads to desynchronization of the bioelectrical activity and suppression of the bursts of hypersynchronized activity. The drinking behavior of cats which appears on the basis of centrally created thirst motivation reflects the activity of a primary dominant focus in the hypothalamus and of a secondary dominant focus in the sensorimotor cortex. These foci are cholinergic in nature. The cessation of the drinking behavior may be related to the activation of adrenergic mechanisms of the same brain structures.