Effects of cortical spreading depression on hypothalamic thermosensitive neurons in the rat.

Effects of unilateral cortical spreading depression (CSD) on the activities of thermosensitive neurons in the ipsilateral preoptic area and anterior hypothalamus (PO/AH) were studied in urethane-anesthetized rats. When a single wave of CSD invaded the frontal cortex, 22 of 25 warm-units were inhibited and all the 13 cold-units were facilitated for 1.2 - 14.2 min. These altered activities of PO/AH thermosensitive neurons may explain, at least in part, the changes of thermoregulatory behaviors and metabolic heat production in the rat with a unilateral PO/AH lesion during CSD of contralateral frontal cortex.