Electrical stimulation in the lateral hypothalamus in rats in the activity-based anorexia model

Abstract

<jats:sec> <jats:title>Object</jats:title> <jats:p>One quarter of patients with anorexia nervosa have a poor outcome and continue to suffer chronically or die. Electrical brain stimulation may be of therapeutic benefit in some of these patients; however, the brain target for inducing symptom relief is unknown. In this study, the authors evaluated the effects of acute and chronic electrical stimulation in the lateral hypothalamus on food intake, locomotor activity, and survival time in rats in an activity-based anorexia model.</jats:p></jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>In an acute experiment, the authors electrically stimulated at 100 Hz and 0, 25, 50 and 75% of the maximal stimulation amplitude (that is, the amplitude leading to severe side effects) in the lateral hypothalamus on consecutive days during 4 test sessions in 10 rats and evaluated food intake and locomotor activity. In a chronic experiment, they compared food intake, wheel revolutions, and survival time between 6 rats that underwent electrical stimulation in the lateral hypothalamus (50% of maximal stimulation amplitude) and 8 rats that did not undergo stimulation.</jats:p></jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>In the acute experiment, overall electrical stimulation (25, 50, and 75% combined) and stimulation at 75% of the maximal stimulation amplitude significantly decreased the locomotor activity. However, if the authors omitted results of 1 rat, in which the electrode tip was not located in the lateral hypothalamus on one side but rather in the supraoptic chiasm, the remaining results did not yield significance. No other differences were observed.</jats:p></jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title> <jats:p>When the findings of the current study are extrapolated to patients with anorexia nervosa, the authors do not expect major effects on symptoms with electrical stimulation at high frequency in the lateral hypothalamus.</jats:p></jats:sec>

Interacting Neural Processes of Feeding, Hyperactivity, Stress, Reward, and the Utility of the Activity-Based Anorexia Model of Anorexia Nervosa

“…356 Remarkably, few studies address the neuropeptide changes in ABA, and only one attempted invasive stimulation of the LH in ABA rats. 178,357 Combining the study of neuropeptides with the study of neuronal population and single-neuron activity in the ABA model could enhance our knowledge of brain circuitry in AN, especially in the LH, potentially leading to the identification of new pharmacologic targets.…”

Effects of Electric Stimulation of the Hunger Center in the Lateral Hypothalamus on Slow Electric Activity and Spike Activity of Fundal and Antral Stomach Muscles in Rabbits under Conditions of Hunger and Satiation

“…Abscissa: interpulse intervals, sec; ordinate: absolute frequency of time intervals. [8,9,11]. In our opinion, the descending inhibitory action of food motivation excitation on myoelectric activity of the stomach is determined by the inhibitory effect on the activity of the stomach LC myogenic pacemaker.…”

“…Along with ascending infl uence of the "hunger center", LH can exert descending modulating infl uence on neuronal activity of the medullary dorsal vagal complex [6,8], which regulates stomach myoelectric activity and motor function [6,8,11].…”

The Enduring Vitality of Implausible Claims for Neurostimulation and Psychosurgical Therapies

“…As is the case for noncancer pain, current psychiatric nosology is an unstable shambles, subject to core disputes over pathologization of the normal, and subject to bootstrapping from one hypothetical treatment for one disorder to another [48] . Dissenting clinical or experimental publications are unusual [49] . However, faculty, department chairs, and neurosurgical societies -if they are willing to invest the effort -have a platform from which to advocate rational inquiry and respect for evidence, and to teach the next generation how avoid patient harm that arises from errors, illusions, and fallacies.…”