Topic: orexin/hypocretin

Lateral hypothalamic orexin/hypocretin (OH) circuits enhance exploratory behaviour and cortical gamma power, key physiological variables affecting neuronal responses in the primary visual cortex (V1). In order to elucidate the functional significance of OH signals for V1 experience-dependent plasticity, we tested orexin KO-mice in the classic ocular dominance plasticity (ODP) paradigm using intrinsic signal optical imaging (OI). Since ODP depends on age and housing conditions, we tested ODP during the critical period (CP) for ODP (P21-P35) and in adults (>P110) with standard cage (SC) housi

Lack of lateral hypothalamic orexin/hypocretin (OH) peptides (Sathiyamani et al, accompanying poster) shortens the critical period (CP) for ocular dominance plasticity (ODP) in mouse primary visual cortex (V1). We have previously shown that altered timing of the CP for ODP is caused by modified maturation of AMPA-silent synapses in both PSD-93 and PSD-95 KO mice, and results in compromised orientation discrimination (Favaro et al 2018, PLosBiol 16:e2006838). We therefore analysed whether orexin KO modifies AMPA-currents in V1 and causes similar visual deficits.First, we quantified AMPA-recepto

Background: The lateral hypothalamus (LH), known to play roles in modulation of reward, avoidance, and preference, projects to the associated brain regions such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA), lateral habenula (LHb), and rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg). Previous studies have established that LH neurons projecting to LHb influence cocaine-induced behavior and dopamine release. However, the specific neuronal populations and the peptides involved in cocaine-induced behavioral effects have not been elucidated.Purpose: To address this, our study aimed to investigate the roles of LH neuro