Preoptic area mechanisms

Schmidt, M Valatx, J.-L., Sakai, K., Fort, P., Jouvet, M. (2000). Role of the lateral preoptic area in sleep-related erectal mechanisms and sleep generation in the rat. J. Neurosci. 20, 6640-7. 

Szymusiak, R., Steininger, T., Alam, N. McGinty, D. (2001). Preoptic area sleep-regulating mechanisms. Arch. Ital. Biol. 139, 77-92. 

Morairty, S., Rainnie, D., McCarley, R. Greene, R. (2004). Disinhibition of ventrolateral preoptic area sleep-active neurons by adenosine a new mechanism for sleep promotion. Neuroscience 123 (2), 451-7. 

Ekimova I. V., Pastukhov I. (2005). [GABA-ergic mechanisms of the ventrolateral preoptic area of the hypothalamus in regulation of sleep and wakefulness and temperature homeostasis in pigeon Columba livia]. Zh. Evol. Biokhim. Fiziol. 41, 356-63. 

By contrast, the accessory olfactory system is thought to be involved in the detection of odors that influence a variety of reproductive and aggressive behaviors (Keverne 1999). Sensory neurons are located in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and detect pheromones which gain access to the VNO by a pumping mechanism (Meredith and O Connell, 1979). VNO neurons send projections to the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). Mitral cells of the AOB project in turn to the medial nucleus of the amygdala olfactory information is then dispatched to several hypothalamic regions such as the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the medial preoptic area and the ventromedial hypothalamus (Scalia and Winans 1975). 

Aspirin does not alter the normal body temperature, which is maintained by a balance between heat production and dissipation. In a fever associated with infection, increased oxidative processes enhance heat production. Aspirin acts by causing cutaneous vasodilation, which prompts perspiration and enhances heat dissipation. This effect is mediated via the hypothalamic nuclei, as proved by the fact that a lesion in the preoptic area suppresses the mechanism through which aspirin exerts its antipyretic effects. The antipyretic effects of aspirin may be due to its inhibition of hypothalamic prostaglandin synthesis. Although aspirin-induced diaphoresis contributes to its antipyretic effects, it is not an absolutely necessary process, because antipyresis takes place in the presence of atropine. 

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