The nature of CNS circuitry subserving thirst.

摄入液体是生存所必需的。口渴障碍，无论是过度的还是不足的，都会带来可怕的后果，欧洲和印度最近的热浪就证明了这一点，那里丧失了数千人的生命，主要是老年人，他们的口渴机制经常被扰乱。过量的液体摄入，在精神分裂症等精神障碍中出现，也是同样有害的。在过去的50年里，许多研究都集中在下丘脑对口渴的调节上。这个项目将首次尝试确定摄入水的驱动力(口渴的感觉)在大脑皮层的位置。

Fluid intake is essential for survival. Disorders of thirst whether they be excessive or inadequate have dire conseqences as evidenced in recent heat waves in Europe and Indiawhere thousands of lives were lost primarily in the elderly whose thirst mechanisms are often disrupted. The excessive fluid intake, seen in psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, is equally damaging. Much of the research over the last 50 years has concentrated on the hypothalamic regulation of thirst. This project will attempt, for the first time, to define the location in the cerebral cortex of the drive to ingest water (perception of thirst).