Chemical Factors in the Brain Involved in Ingestive Behavior

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Vital functions of the body are controlled by complex mechanisms of the brainstem, which involve both hormones and neurotransmitter substances. The research to be performed by Dr. Myers as a result of this award will deal with processes responsible for hunger, the act of feeding, the condition of satiety, experimental anorexia, the regulation of body temperature, hyperthermia and hypothermia. Special emphasis will be placed on the interaction between mechanisms of hunger and of temperature regulation. In specific experiments, the function of a newly discovered protein factor called macrophage inflammatory protein 1 (MIP-1 ) will be studied. This substance is a potent endogenous factor which has been directly implicated in the regulation of hunger and temperature at the level of hypothalamus. The studies will focus on brain sensitivity to MIP- 1 in terms of changes in temperature anf feeding, and the interaction of MIP-1 with other neurotransmitters that are known to be involved in physiological regulation of these functions.This research will contribute fundamental scientific information about how hormones and transmitters in the brain can modulate life-sustaining regulatory functions.