Human hypothalamus shows differential responses to basic motivational stimuli—an invasive electrophysiology study

Abstract

Abstract-The hypothalamus supports basic motivational behaviours such as mating and feeding. Recording directly from the posterior inferior hypothalamus in a male patient receiving a deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrode for the alleviation of cluster headache, we tested the hypothalamic response to different classes of motivational stimuli (sexually relevant: pictures of dressed and undressed women; pictures of food) and pictures of common objects as control. Averaged local field potentials (LFP) to sexually relevant stimuli were characterized by a biphasic significantly enhanced response (relative to objects; bootstrapping statistics) with a first phase starting at around 200 ms and a second phase peaking at around 600 ms. Sexually relevant stimuli also showed a greatly enhanced positivity relative to other stimulus classes in surface event-related potentials in a group of 11 male control participants. It is suggested that the hypothalamus is involved in the recruitment of attentional resources by sexually relevant stimuli reflected in this surface positivity. In a second session, the response to food stimuli relative to objects was tested in two states: after fasting for 14 h, LFPs to food and object stimuli showed significant differences in between 300 and 850 ms, which disappeared after a full high-calorie meal, thus replicating classic studies in monkeys [Rolls et al., Brain Res (1976) 111:53-66]. The current data are the first to demonstrate hypothalamic responses to the sight of motivational stimuli in man and thus shows that recording from DBS electrodes might provide important information about the cognitive functions of subcortical structures.

Hypothalamic Deep Brain Stimulation Influences Autonomic and Limbic Circuitry Involved in the Regulation of Aggression and Cardiocerebrovascular Control in the Göttingen Minipig

“…Based on electrophysiological recordings and functional MRI, it has recently been established that the response of the human hypothalamus to stimuli associated with food intake is greatly reduced when the test subjects are satiated [21,22]. Furthermore, animal studies have demonstrated that the ventromedial and lateral hypothalamus are implicated in the regulation of feeding and energy metabolism and therefore considered as possible targets for clinical DBS aimed at treating morbid obesity [1,2,3,4].…”

Electrophysiology and Structural Connectivity of the Posterior Hypothalamic Region: Much to Learn From a Rare Indication of Deep Brain Stimulation

“…to common control items, however, they did not characterize frequency-band specific results (Nager et al, 2011). Brittain et al (2009) demonstrated that during a CH attack, there was a significant increase in beta-band (20 Hz) field potential power, representing a possible pathologically-relevant biomarker.…”

“…To our knowledge, only two studies have reported on field potentials in the posterior hypothalamus. Nager et al (2011) demonstrated event-related field potential differences to motivational (sexually-relevant and food) stimuli compared FIGURE 2 | (A) Initial parameters at 2-weeks post-operation and 1.5-year post-surgically with DBS lead depicting active contacts in green. (B) Regions of interest (ROIs) with greatest tractography-based proportion of streamlines (>5% of normalized streamlines) to the volume of activated tissue (VAT) with parameters at 2-weeks post-operation, and 1.5-years post-surgery.…”

Lateral hypothalamic activity indicates hunger and satiety states in humans

“…In this context, it is uncertain whether our findings may be extrapolated to other pathological states. In a patient with cluster headache treated with posterior hypothalamic DBS, LFPs have been recorded following the presentation of food images but oscillatory patterns were not studied in detail …”