Lecture On The

Physiology of
Hypothalamus
  it is the part of diencephalon which is below the hypothalamic
sulcus.
Hypothalamus  Hypothalamus is the Major Control Headquarters for the Limbic
System It forms the anteroinferior wall and the floor of the
third ventricle It extends from optic chiasma to mamillary body.
 Nuclei ofhypothalamus

 Three groups of nuclei:

 1.Anteriotr or Preoptic group
 : lateral and medial preoptic nuclei, suproptic nucleus,suprachiasmatic
nucleus, paraventricular nucleus and anterior nucleus.
 2.Middle or Tuberal
 : Ventromedial,dorsomedial, arcuate or tuberal nucleus,posterior and
lateral nuclei.
 3.Posterior or Mammillary
 supramammillary, premammillary, medial and lateral mammillary
nuclei.
  1.Amygdala and Hippocampus
 2.Reticular formation of brainstem
 3.Nucleus of tractus solitarius
 4.Locus ceruleus:
AFFERENTS
 these secrete norepinehrine at the nerveendings
TO THE  5.Raphe magnus nucleus:
HYPOTHALAM  these secrete serotonin at their nerve ending
US ARE FROM  6.Afferents from the sensory pathways
 7.retina
 8.Thalamic nuclei
 9.Frontal cortex
 10.Globus pallidus and Lentiform nucleus (basal ganglia)
 EFFERENTS FROM THE HYPOTHALAMUS GO TO
 1.Amygdala and Hippocampus
 2.Frontal cortex
 3.Nucleus of tractus solitariu
 4.mid brain
 5.Reticular formation of brainstem
 6.Spinal cord
 7.Nervous connections with posterior pituitary and vascular
 connections with the anterior pituitary
 Nervous connections with posterior pituitary and vascular
connections with the anterior pituitary:

 Supraoptic and paraventricularnuclei of hypothalamus secrete ADH

and oxytocin.These hormones are transported along with their
carrier proteins along the nerve fibers to the posterior
pituitary where they are stored. These are the hormones of
hypothalamoneurohypophyseal system.

 In the median eminence and infundibulum of the hypothalamus,

there are sinusoids. Blood from these sinusoids pass through the
hypophyseal portal blood vessels and these pass through the or
communicate with the capillary plexus in the anterior pituitary.
  1.Secretion of posterior pituiatry hormones (paraventricular andsupraoptic nucleus)
 2.Control of anterior pituitary (discrete areas)
 3.Control of adrenal cortex (paraventricular nucleus)
 4.Regulation of heart rate and blood pressure (posterior, lateral and anterior
hypothalamus)
 5.Regulation of sleep and wakefulness (ant. Hypothalamus and mamillary body)
FUNCTIONS  6.Role in behaviour and emotional changes (ventromedial, post and lateralnuclei)

OF HYPOTHAL  1.Reward centre

 : in ventromedial nucleus
AMUS  2.Punishment centre
 : Post. And lateral nuclei
 3.Rage centre
 : Post. And lateral nuclei.
 7.Regulation of response to smell (post. hypothalamus)
 8.Role of circadian rhythm (suprachiasmatic n,supraoptic and ant. nuclei)
 9. Control of autonomic nervous system

 stimulation of posterior and lateral hypothalamus results into

sympathetic responses
 such as increase in the heartrate and blood pressure, pupillary
dilatation,piloerection, secretion of catecholamine's from adrenal medulla and
hyperglycemia.

 Stimulation of anterior hypothalamus (preoptic area)results into parasympathetic

responses
 such as slowing of heart rate and fall in blood pressure, papillary constriction,
contraction of urinary bladder, GIT motility and secretions.

 in addition hypothalamus is also a

 relay station in the pathway of sympathetic cholinergic nerves Which produce
vasodilatation in skeletal muscle and sweating.
 10. Control of water balance of the body

 water balance is maintained through the control of water intake and excretion through the
kidney.

 When the thirst center in lateral hypothalamus is stimulated, there is conscious desire to take
water and fluids.

 Thirst centre is stimulated when there is increased osmolality of ECF, Hypovolemia and also
by angiotensin II.

 In the anterior hypothalamus, there are osmoreceptors which are specialized neurons which
respond to changes in osmolality.

 Water excretion is controlled by ADH. Stimuli which secrete ADH may be osmotic or volume.

 If there is hyperosmolarity or Hypovolemia, there is secretion of ADH. These stimuli will act on
hypothalamus and ADH is released which acts on the distal parts of renal tubules to
reabsorb water.
 11. Control of uterine contraction and milk ejection

 oxytocin is synthesized in hypothalamus, mainly the paraventricular nuclei.

 Oxytocin causes uterine contraction to help in the child birth.

 In the second stage of labor there are high levels of oxytocin.

 In milk ejection (milk letdown) there is role of oxytocin. The

 baby suckles breast of the mother, impulses from the receptor around nipples go to
the hypothalamus and then there is release of oxytocin from post. pituitary.

 Oxytocin causes contraction of myo-epithelial cells as a result of which milk is

ejected from the breast.
 This is a neuro-endocrinal reflex. Afferent part is nervous and efferent isendocrine.
12.Control of food intake or hunger
In the lateral hypothalamus, there is a feeding Centre or
hunger center. When this center is stimulated there is desire to take
food and there is hunger.

 Activity of the feeding center is controlled by a

 satiety center in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus.

 When satiety center is active, feeding center is inhibited. When

satiety center is inactive, feeding Centre is activated.
 cont…)

 Glucostat mechanism
 : In the satiety centre, neurons are called glucostat cells. Glucose
uptake in the glucostat cells depends upon the presence of adequate
concentration of insulin
 . In almost all brain cells glucose uptake don’t require insulin except
glucostat cells in satiety centre.
 In uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, there is polyphagia and increased
appetite because of inactivity of satiety Centre because there is less
insulin as result of which there isoveractivity of feeding centre
resulting in polyphagia.

 Lipostatic mechanism
 : through leptin. Mammillary bodies in the hypothalamus control
feeding reflexes such as swallowing and licking of the lips.
 Vagus nerve

 Ghrelin hormone is a crucial hunger hormone with a

significant impact on appetite, food intake
 13. Regulation of body temperature

 Heat loss centre

 : in the preoptic nucleus of ant.hypothalamus there is a centre
which regulate the temperature. When temperature of the body
increases with respect to thermostat in the hypothalamus,various
temperature decreasing mechanisms are initiated which include
cutaneous vasodilatation and sweating.

 Heat gain center

 : When body temperature decreases with respect to thermostat,
various temperature increasing mechanisms are initiated and these
include cutaneous vasoconstriction, shivering and later on there is
chemical thermogenesis. Shivering center is located in posterior
hypothalamus.
DISORDERS  1. Central Diabetes insipidus
OF HYPOTHAL  : may be because of tumor or damage to hypothalamus.

AMUS
 Laurence-Moon-Beidl Syndrome

 moon face, obesity, polydactylism, mental

retardation,hypogentalism.
 Dystrophia adipogentalis (Frohlich’s syndrome):obesity, sexual
infantalism, dwarfism.
 Narcolepsy : sudden uncontrollable desire for sleep during
daytime.

 Cataplexy: sudden uncontrolled outburts of emotions associated

with narcolepsy.
  Descending motor pathways / tracts:

Motor  1)PYRAMIDAL / CORTICO-SPINAL.

 2)EXTRA-PYRAMIDAL / EXTRA CORTICO-SPINAL.(All the descending
pathway motor pathways, other than pyramidal are called extrapyramidal.
  1 million fibers
 Mostly myelinated fibers, but slow conducting.
PYRAMIDAL  Tract originates from cerebral cortex.

TRACTS  30% of fibers originate from primary motor area.

 Another 30% from pre-motor area & supplementarymotor area.
 40% from somatic sensory area of cerebral cortex.
 All these fibers converge throw corona-radiata towards internal
capsule.

 In internal capsule, the tract occupies the genu(the bent portion) &
anterior 2/3 of posterior limb.

 Then tract passes into midbrain, where it occupies middle 3/5 of

cerebral peduncle / crus cerebri.

 When tract passes through the internal capsule, fibers for cervical
parts of body are in genu& fibers for lower parts of body are in
posterior limb of internal capsule.
 In cerebral peduncle, fibers for cervical parts of body are medial &
fibers for lower parts are lateral.

 From midbrain, tract enters the pons, where tract is broken into
small bundles by transverse ponto-cerebellar fibers.
 When these bundles enter medulla, these gather / unite along the
anterior border of medulla to form the pyramid(as welling).

 The tract is named pyramidal because of pyramid formation along

anterior border of medulla.
 In lower part of medulla, 80% of fibers cross over to opposite side,
to form MOTOR DECUSSATION.

 (Sensory decussation: fibers from nucleus gracilus & cuneatus).

 After motor decussation, crossed fibers enter lateral white columns of
spinal cord to form lateral cortico-spinal tract.

 Fibers of tract which remain uncrossed, enter anterior white column of

spinal cord to form anterior cortico-spinal tract.

 Fibers of anterior cortico-spinal tract terminate in ventral horn of

cervical & upper thoracic segments of spinal cord.

 These fibers terminate onto motor neurons ( aplha &gamma).

 It is thought that these fibers are from supplementary motor area, for
control of attitudinal or positional movements,e-g, in climbing posture.
Most of cortico-spinal fibers for their termination first synapse with
inter-neurons which in turn synapse with motor neurons (alpha &
gamma).
Only fibers which arise from Betz cells(Giant pyramidal cells), which
form only3% fibers, terminate directly into motor neurons.
Small number of fiber synapse with sensory neuron
Certain branches of cortico-spinal tract go to different brain parts:
To caudate & lentiform nuclei.

To red nucleus.

To olivary nuclei &reticular formation.

There are also cortico-bulbar fibers which come along cortico-spinal

tract. In the brainstem these fibers cross over to opposite side to
terminate with motor neurons in nuclei of cranial nerves.
  Extrapyramidal system
 1.Basal Ganglia
 2.Midbrain giving rise to following bulbospinal tracts.
 A.Rubrospinal tract.
 B.Vestibulospinal Tract.
Extra-
 C.Reticulospinal Tract
pyramidal  D.Tectspinal Tract.
tract  E.Olivospinal Tract.
 FUNCTION:
 (1) sets the postural background needed for performanceof skilled
movements
 (2) controls subconscious gross movements
 Red Nucleus receives large number of direct fibers from the primarymotor cortex
through the
Corticorubral tract& some
branching fibers from the corticospinal tract as it passes through the
mesencephalon.

RUBROSPINAL These fibers synapse in the

󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥,󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥, 󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥󰁥.
magnocellularportion ,containing large neurons like betzcells and give origin to
TRACT Rubrospinaltract.

The red nucleus also has close connections with the cerebellum

The corticorubrospinal pathway serves as an accessory route for transmission of

relatively discrete signals from the motor cortex to the Spinal cord.
Facilitate to flexors muscles .
 Originates from vestibular nucleus in pons (which receive inputs
from inner ear ,Vestibular Apparatus and cerebellum)Pontine
reticular nuclei-Axons descend in the ipsilateral ventral white
VESTIBULOSPI column of spinal cord Vestibular nuclei Medullary reticular nuclei
NAL TRACT Functions:1- Controls Postural & righting reflexes.
2-Excitatory to ipsilateral spinal motor neurons-that supply axial &
posturalmuscles3- Control head & eye movements
 Functions of Vestibulospinal Tracts
 The lateral Vestibulospinal tract Cells of origin : Lateral Vestibular Nucleus.
Axons descend in the ventral white column of spinal cord
 Functions: It activates motor neurons to antigravity muscles (eg, proximal
limb extensors) to control posture and balance
 The medial Vestibulospinal tract Cells of origin : Medial and inferior Vestibular
Nuclei. As its axons descend in the ventral white column of spinal cord to end
at the cervical segments of the spinal cord, some fibers form part of the
Medial Longitudinal Fasciculus fibers in brain stem thlink vestibular nuclei to
nuclei supplying the extra-ocular muscles
 Functions: Coordination of head and eye movements
 The reticular formation makes up a central core of the brainstem. It
contains many different neuronal groups-Pontine and medullary
RETICULOSPI nuclei projects to the AHCS of the spinal cord via Reticulospinal
Tract
NAL TRACT Functions:
1-Influence motor functions as voluntary & reflex movement
2-Excitatory or inhibitory to muscle tone
 Two types of reticulospinal tracts
 (1)Pontine (Medial Reticulospinal Tract(anterior column of spinal
cord)Transmit excitatory signals downward into the cord->medial
anterior motor neurons that excite the axial muscles of the body,
which support the body against gravity.
 In addition, they receive strong excitatory signals from the
vestibular nuclei& from deep nuclei of the cerebellum.
 Axons descend in anterior(ventral )white column of spinal cord
Functions:
 Excite the antigravity muscles of the body and increases Gamma
efferent activity
 (2)Medullary (Lateral) Reticulospinal Tract: Axons descend in
lateral white column of spinal cord on both sides
 It receive strong input from (1) the corticospinal tract, (2) the
rubrospinal tract, and(3) other motor pathways-> activate the
medullary reticular inhibitory system to counter balance the
excitatory signals from the pontine reticularsystem.
 Functions: counterbalance the excitatory signals from the
pontine reticular system and inhibits Gamma efferent activity
 The excitatory and inhibitory reticular nuclei constitute a
controllable system that is manipulated by motor signals from
the cerebral cortex to provide necessary background muscle
contractions for standing against gravity.
  It arises from superior (VISUAL) & inferior colliculi(AUDITORY)
TECTOSPINAL of midbrain and Ends on Contralateral cervical motor neurons

TRACT  Functions: Mediate/facilitate turning of the head in response to

visual or Auditory stimuli.
  Arises from inferior olivary N of the medulla & is found only in
the cervical region of the spinal cord (supply neck muscles ).
Olivospinal secondary olivocerebellar fibers transmit signals to multiple
areas of the cerebellum.
tract  Functions: Exact function is not known but it is belived to be
involved in reflex movements arising from proprioceptors.