Does serotonin play a role in entrance into hibernation?
To study the role of brain serotonin in entrance into hibernation, intraventricular injections of 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine, electrolytic lesions of small parts of the median raphe nucleus, and chemical lesions of the same nucleus were undertaken on the European hamster in winter. All the lesions led to a variable decrease of serotonin levels in all parts of the brain areas examined. However, hibernation was suppressed only in those animals whose serotonergic neurons were destroyed in a small anterior part of the median raphe nucleus. Electrolytic lesions as well as chemical lesions in the other parts of the median raphe nucleus or the 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine injections into lateral ventricles do not prevent hibernation. These data suggest that in the European hamster only a specific group of serotonergic neurons of the median raphe nucleus are involved in the process of entrance into hibernation.
D015116:5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D006224:Cricetinae; D005260:Female; D006605:Hibernation; D008297:Male; D011903:Raphe Nuclei / Q000502:physiology; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
D015116:5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine; D012701:Serotonin