title: A decade of hypocretins: past, present and future of the neurobiology of arousal.
abstract: In 1998, two groups independently identified the hypocretins, also known as orexins, as two hypothalamic peptides derived from the same precursor expressed in a few thousand neurones restricted to the perifornical area. A decade later, an amazing set of discoveries has demonstrated a key role for this neurotransmitter system in arousal and beyond. Here I review some of the experiments that led to these discoveries and the implications in the neurobiology of the hypothalamus and our understanding of brain arousal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. llecea@stanford.edu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Lecea
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000266:history / Q000378:metabolism*; D009446:Neurobiology / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000266:history / Q000378:metabolism*; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D000068797:Orexins
chemical_list: D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009479:Neuropeptides; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; D000068797:Orexins