Paraventricular area: Critical focus of a longitudinal neurocircuitry mediating food intake

Hyperphagia, obesity, and excessive linear growth, but not hyperdipsia, were produced by the asymmetrical combination of a parasagittal hypothalamic knife cut and a contralateral coronal knife cut. When the location of the coronal cut was varied systematically, it was found that cuts rostral to the coronal level of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) neither produced nor prevented overeating, while cuts caudal to the PVN produced a robust hyperphagic response. Thus, the coronal level of the paraventricular nucleus was revealed as the rostral focus of a longitudinal satiety neurocircuitry.