title: Scalp recorded direct current potential shifts associated with quenching thirst in humans.
abstract: As an indicator of cortical excitability, direct current (DC) potentials were recorded from thirsted subjects before, during and after drinking 400 ml of water. Self-rated thirst was distinctly reduced after drinking. Compared with control conditions in which the subjects remained thirsty, during drinking a widespread negative potential shift occurred averaging over -70 microV at Cz. At the transition from the consumatory phase to the postconsumption phase, a slow positive potential shift commenced that was most pronounced over the anterior cortex (averaging over +40 microV at Fz) and persisted for more than 3 min after drinking. Control conditions excluded muscle activity, ocular movements, and changes in body fluid and serum osmolality as possible non-neuronal sources of the DC-potential changes. The sequence of negative and positive potential shifts associated with drinking indicates a coordinate regulation of cortical excitability that may facilitate consumatory behavior and its context-dependent encoding into memory.
authors: Department of Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg, Germany.
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Schmitt
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Mölle
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Marshall
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Born
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003265:Contingent Negative Variation / Q000502:physiology; D004327:Drinking Behavior; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D012528:Satiety Response / Q000502:physiology*; D013894:Thirst / Q000502:physiology*