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The modern view
of energy homeostasis now proposes that discrete
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neuronal
pathways generate integrated responses to afferent input
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related to
energy storage. The hypothalamus
plays a prominent role
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in this
integration.
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The hypothalamus
is sensitive to adiposity signals supplied by the
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hormones leptin
and insulin, secreted by fat cells and the pancrease
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respectively.
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Insulin and
leptin both modulate neural activity in the arcuate
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nucleus of the
hypothalamus, which transduces afferent hormonal
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signals into a
neural response.
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Leptin may also
play a role in establishing a biological set point for
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body weight by
modifying the strength and number of synapses onto
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arcuate neurons
and by inducing projections from the arcuate
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nucleus to the
PVN during development.
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