Andries Kalsbeek

The hypothalamus controls our physiology via hormone release and balancing the activity of the autonomic nervous system. The neuro-endocrine cells in the hypothalamus that control hormonal release have been known for a long time and are well characterized. However, this is a major contrast with the hypothalamic neurons that control the autonomic nervous system. As for now these so-called pre-autonomic neurons can only be identified using invasive techniques such as electrophysiology or retrograde tracing. Using the latest microscopic and molecular techniques, we set out to better characterize these neurons and find specific markers to identify these neurons without the need of invasive surgery.