Hyperphagia and obesity after olfactory bulbectomy performed at different times of the year in the European hamster.
Olfactory bulbectomy was performed on wild male European hamsters at different phases of their circannual body weight rhythm. Olfactory bulbectomy was always followed by an immediate hyperphagia the magnitude of which varied with the time of the year it was performed. The bulbectomy did not affect the phase of the circannual body weight rhythm, although in certain cases the rhythm is attenuated or apparently phase-shifted. Hyperphagia was delayed by food restriction but reappeared when animals were placed on ad lib food. The possible role of olfactory bulbs in the regulation of body weight, and the possibility that the maintenance expenditure of the bulbectomized animals is higher than that of the controls are discussed.
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D006224:Cricetinae; D004435:Eating; D008297:Male; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons