title: Direct osmotic stimulation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus by microdialysis induces excessive grooming in the rat.
abstract: This study examined the effects of direct osmotic stimulation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) on grooming behavior of adult male rats. Animals chronically fitted with a microdialysis probe in the right PVN responded to dialysis with hypertonic (containing 1 M NaCl) artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) with grooming behavior (to approx. 500%, P < 0.01, ANOVA) and a significantly reduced time resting (to approx. 20%, P < 0.01, ANOVA), compared with controls which received either the same treatment in the right supraoptic nucleus or in which the PVN was dialyzed with isotonic (0.15 M NaCl) a CSF. These results indicate that direct osmotic stimulation of the PVN via microdialysis is able to trigger and to maintain excessive grooming activity in rats; the novel experimental approach used here provides the potential to investigate the involvement of endogenous, intracerebrally released substances in the grooming response.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Engelmann
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Wotjak
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Landgraf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006120:Grooming / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D017551:Microdialysis; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000502:physiology; D010286:Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013495:Supraoptic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents