Narcolepsy anatomy
Philip
24/04/2019
Narcolepsy: common sleeping disorder marked by excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy.
Neural anatomy analysis:
1. Causes:
Selective loss of neurons productivity of orexin/hypocretin in the lateral hypothalamus.
(Burgess & Scammell 2012)
2. Anatomical structure
1) Brain nuclei of the LHA (lateral thalamic area), contains dorsal region of the
hypothalamus and perifornical area, which set up a link between the NS maintains
homeostasis and the one regulates appetitive related behaviour. (Hurley & Johnson
2014).
2) 1> Orexins are neuropeptides exclusively made in hypothalamus. The original cells of
orexins are found specifically in lateral hypothalamus (LH) (Smith et al 2009).
2> Orexin neurons in LH projects broadly to the brain, the brain stem and spinal cord.
(Burgess & Scammell 2012).
3> Other than orexins mainly regulate sleepiness/wakefulness, Orexin-A injections to
lateral ventricles also regulates food intake base on different receptors. (Inutsuka &
Yamanaka 2013).
References:
1. Burgess, C R & Scammell, T E 2012, ‘Narcolepsy: neural mechanisms of sleepiness and
cataplexy’, PubMed, vol. 32, no. 36, pp. 12305 – 12311, viewed 24 April 2019,
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3449314/>.
2. Hurtley S W & Johnson, A K 2014, ‘The role of the lateral hypothalamus and orexin in
ingestive behaviour: a model for the translation of past experience and sensed deficits into
motivated behaviours’, Frontier, viewed 24 April 2019, <
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00216/full>
3. Smith, R J Aston-Jones, G Sartor, G C Moorman, D E Massi, L Tahsili-Fahadan, P &
Richardson, K A 2009, ‘Lateral hypothalamic orexin/hypocretin neurons: A role in rewardseeking and addiction’, PubMed, viewed 24 April 2019, <
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2819557/>
4. Yamanaka, A & Inutsuka, A 2013, ‘The physiological role of orexin/hypocretin neurons in the
regulation of sleep/wakefulness and neuroendocrine functions’, PubMed, viewed 24 April
2019, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3589707/>.