科學與社會力學生物學論文集
克里斯托弗·齊默曼
嵌入式影像
掃描小鼠大腦下頜器官冠狀切片的共聚焦熒光顯微照片，顯示乾渴的神經元（黃色）和細胞核（品紅色）。
照片：CHRISTOPHER ZIMMERMAN
我們每天都感到口渴，但是這種感覺從何而來？在1950年代，本格·安德森（Bengt Andersson）提出了一個誘人的答案：我們的大腦可能包含控制口渴的“滲透傳感器”（1），該傳感器由一組細胞組成，這些細胞通過直接監測血液的滲透壓來感知何時我們脫水。在一系列開創性實驗中，安德森（Andersson）系統地將鹽注入山羊的大腦，以試圖找到這種滲透傳感器（2，3）。他最終在下丘腦內發現了一小片區域，即使是微量的鹽也可立即開始大量喝酒。隨後的研究表明，安德森的滲透壓傳感器涵蓋了分支下器官（SFO），這是一個大腦區域，由於它位於血腦屏障之外，特別適合檢測血滲透壓（4）。
= ESSAYS ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETYNEUROBIOLOGY
The origins of thirst
- Christopher A. Zimmerman
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
- Email: czimmerman@princeton.edu
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Science 02 Oct 2020:
Vol. 370, Issue 6512, pp. 45-46
DOI: 10.1126/science.abe1479
Scanning confocal fluorescence micrograph of a coronal section of the subfornical organ in the mouse brain, showing thirst neurons (yellow) and cell nuclei (magenta).
PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ZIMMERMAN
We experience thirst every day, but where does this sensation come from? In the 1950s, Bengt Andersson proposed a tantalizing answer: Our brains might contain an “osmosensor” (1) that governs thirst, which consists of a group of cells that sense when we are dehydrated by directly monitoring the osmolarity of the blood. In a series of pioneering experiments , Andersson systematically infused salt into the brains of goats in an attempt to locate this osmosensor (2, 3). He ultimately discovered a small area within the hypothalamus where even minute amounts of salt triggered immediate, voracious drinking. Subsequent studies established that Andersson's osmosensor encompasses the subfornical organ (SFO), a brain region that is distinctively suited to detecting blood osmolarity because it lies outside the blood-brain barrier (4).
