부산대학교 도서관

It has been reported frequently that rats sustaining lateral hypothalamic (LH) lesions lose more body weight than can be accounted for by their failure to eat and drink. This phenomenon was investigated in two experiments. The results indicated a tendency for rats sustaining LH lesions to lose more body weight than deprived, unoperated controls on some postoperative days. However, rats sustaining control lesions of the thalamus and also deprived generally lost about the same amount of weight as those sustaining LH lesions. The rats with LH lesions excreted more urine and displayed depressed locomotor activity compared with either lesion or unoperated controls. Fecal output and the retractive index of the urine did not differ among groups. It is suggested that excessive weight loss following LH lesions is not specific to LH lesions. The importance of these findings to current hypotheses of metabolic disruptions produced by LH lesions is discussed.