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Multiple effects of ventromedial hypothalamic lesions in the white-throated sparrow,Zonotrichia albicollis

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Summary

Effects of ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) lesions were studied in a migratory bird. A single lesion resulted in various combinations of physiological and behavioral responses, the most frequent being marked body weight gain, polydipsia and a failure to display gonadal development, prenuptial molt and Zugunruhe (nocturnal migratory restlessness). This variability in response implies that neural control mechanisms for each effect may be anatomically separable. Specific studies showed that water intake in one population was ten times control levels and was persistently greater for ten months. Locomotor activity was monitored before and after hypothalamic lesions. Ventromedial hypothalamic lesions selectively eliminated Zugunruhe. Termination of nocturnal activity was immediate, occurring the night following surgery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Georgia, Athens

    Wayne J. Kuenzel

  2. Department of Poultry Science, Cornell University, 14850, Ithaca, New York, USA

    Wayne J. Kuenzel

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  1. Wayne J. Kuenzel
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Data were taken from a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Georgia. The paper was written whole the author held an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship, number 1 F02 NS 50, 546-01 NSRA. The author wishes to thank Dr. Carl W. Helms for his invaluable counsel throughout all aspects of the investigation and Dr. Ari van Tienhoven for reading and criticizing a previous draft.

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Kuenzel, W.J. Multiple effects of ventromedial hypothalamic lesions in the white-throated sparrow,Zonotrichia albicollis . J. Comp. Physiol. 90, 169–182 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00694483

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00694483

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