Feeding behavior induced by central norepinephrine injection is attenuated by discrete lesions in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus.

Extensive brain-cannula mapping studies in the rat have demonstrated that the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is the most sensitive brain site for eliciting eating behavior with central norepinephrine (NE) injection. The present experiments examined the impact of lesions aimed at the PVN on this NE-elicited eating response. In rats with NE injection cannulas aimed at the lateral ventricle, bilateral lesions of the PVN significantly attenuated, by 60 to 70%, the eating effect induced by NE, at doses ranging from 20 to 160 nmoles. PVN lesions which extended ventrally to damage tissue lying within the periventricular region were more effective in abolishing the NE response than were lesions that remained confined to the dorsal aspects of the PVN. Large lesions located just dorsal to the PVN had no impact on the NE response. This evidence supports the primary role of the PVN in mediating the eating behavior elicited by central noradrenergic activation.