Effect of amphetamine on food intake in rats with brain-stem lesions

¹ Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California

An examination was made of the role of the area postrema in the regulation of food intake and in mediating the anorexigenic effect of amphetamine. Rats with area postrema lesions lost 13–20% of preoperative weight, and tended to regain only a slight amount of this lost weight. Control lesions in the hippocampus and dorsolateral thalamus produced no significant effect on food intake. It was concluded that the area postrema has a facilitatory effect on food intake. The anorexigenic effect of amphetamine was exaggerated in the area postrema group with 50% or greater damage to the target area only. This area is not, therefore, a primary receptor for amphetamine, but is somehow implicated, since its destruction results in greater drug action.