Effect on airway caliber of stimulation of the hypothalamic locomotor region

Abstract

Airway dilation is one of the many autonomic responses to exercise. Two neural mechanisms are believed to evoke these responses: central command and the muscle reflex. Previously, we found that activation of central command, evoked by electrical and chemical stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region, constricted the airways rather than dilated them. In the present study we examined in decerebrate paralyzed cats the role played by the hypothalamic locomotor region, the activation of which also evokes central command, in causing the airway dilator response to exercise. We found that activation of the hypothalamic locomotor region by electrical and chemical stimuli evoked fictive locomotion and, for the most part, airway constriction. Fictive locomotion also occurred spontaneously, and this too, for the most part, was accompanied by airway constriction. We conclude that central command plays a minor role in the airway dilator response to exercise.

Role of the lateral hypothalamus and prefrontal cortex in organization of voluntary movements

“…As an object of analysis, we also chose the lateral hypothalamus (LH), a key structure of the nourishment center and a component of the hypothalamic locomotor region. This structure has abundant afferent and efferent connections with the spinal cord, brainstem, cortex, and cerebellum [2][3][4].…”

Organization of a program of automatized food-procuring movement in rats

“…Taking into account the biological meaning of the motor act under study (a food-procuring movement), we also believed it expedient to study the lateral hypothalamus (LH) as a key structure of the nutrition center. We also took into account the following circumstance: the LH is a component of the hypothalamic locomotor region, which has afferent and efferent connections with the spinal cord, brainstem, brain cortex, and cerebellum [8][9][10][11]. In general, in our studies we tried to elucidate the involvement of the cerebellum, caudate nuclei, motor cortex, ventromedial nucleus of the thalamus, LH, and basolateral cortex (secondary field of the frontal cortex, 2PFC) in programing, initiation, and realization of fast food-procuring automatized movements performed by albino rats.…”