Hypothalamic hyperphagia: Males get just as fat as females.

Abstract

Produced hypothalamic hyperphagia in male and female Carworth CFE rats using parasagittal hypothalamic knife cuts. When equated for body weight, lesioned males and females both gained weight at the same rapid rate. As normal males typically gain more rapidly than normal females, it seems that the lesion-induced rate of weight gain occurs instead of, rather than in addition to, the normal rate of weight gain peculiar to each sex. In Exp. II, it was found that while hyperphagic Ss were unable to respond adequately to internal cues that decrease caloric intake, they could respond to internal cues that accelerate caloric intake. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)