Changes in Caloric Intake Following Brain Stem Lesions in Cats

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Abstract
OBESITY or hyperphagia or both have been reported after central nervous system lesions in regions other than the hypothalamus including the frontal lobes,1-3 temporal lobes and amygdala,4,5 thalamus,6-8 globus pallidus,9 and midbrain.7,10-14 Decerebrate animals are capable of reflex chewing and swallowing. Both Miller and Sherrington15 and Bazett and Penfield16 have demonstrated that these simple feeding-responses are possible after removal of much of the mesencephalon and more rostral portions of the brain. Ruch et al7 reported an apparent hyperphagia in monkeys with lesions involving the rostral mesencephalon and ventral thalamus. Sprague et al14 demonstrated an increased intake in cats with bilateral lesions of the lateral midbrain, and Randall11 subsequently reported that cats with bilateral ventrolateral lesions of the caudal midbrain became extremely obese and lethargic. Adametz and O'Leary10 first mentioned an "excessive appetite" in cats following lesions of