The heart of the brain : the hypothalamus and its hormones / Gareth Leng.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Leng, G. (Gareth), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hypothalamus--Popular works.

Hypothalamus.

Hypothalamic hormones--Popular works.

Hypothalamic hormones.

Genre:

Popular works.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 265 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : The MIT Press, [2018]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

"This book is about the neuroendocrine brain - about the hypothalamus, the seat of our passions, and about the control that this small structure exerts on our physiology and behavior. The hypothalamus contains a vast diversity of neuronal types, and these signal not only though conventional messengers but by a wide range of other signals, many of which act as hormones within the brain. Behaviors important to who we are - love and hate, how much we eat and what we eat, how we respond to threat and to stress - are governed by the hypothalamus, and not by the map of how the neurons are connected, but by where the receptors for these peptide signals are found. Neurotransmitter signals are ephemeral and confined by anatomical connectivity, but the peptide signals that hypothalamic neurons generate are potent, wide reaching and long-lasting, and they affect not just neuronal excitability but also the genes that neurons express. Remarkably, different peptides when injected into the brain induce coherent, meaningful behaviors - some trigger eating, others induce a longing for salt, or initiate maternal behavior or aggression or sleep. This book describes the frontiers of current research into the hypothalamus, and does so in a way that makes it accessible to readers with no specialized knowledge."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

2 The European Brain p. 7

3 The Classical Neuron p. 13

4 Enlightenment p. 25

5 Far from the Madding Crowd p. 31

6 Pulsatile Secretion p. 45

7 Dendritic Secretion and Priming p. 57

8 The CnRH Neuron p. 69

9 Kisspeptin p. 79

10 The Bistable Neuron p. 87

11 Vasopressin p. 99

12 Numbers p. 109

13 Whispered Secrets and Public Announcements p. 115

14 Plasticity p. 121

15 Rhythms p. 133

16 Obesity p. 139

17 The Empty Medicine Cabinet p. 151

18 Appetite p. 161

19 The Sweet Hormone p. 171

20 The Hybrid Neuron p. 179

21 Behavior p. 189

22 The Evolved Brain p. 201

23 Redundancy and Degeneracy p. 211

24 The Tangled Web p. 217.

Notes:

OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.

ISBN:

9780262346993

0262346990

OCLC:

1043830951

Publisher Number:

40028356706

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.