Alongside light conditions, mental and emotional factors influence the size of our pupils. Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) have now discovered that the brain does not regulate the size of the pupils via the stress hormone noradrenaline, as had previously been assumed. Rather, the neurotransmitter orexin is responsible for this, further details of which can be found in a press release issued by ETH Zurich. If the supply of orexin is switched off, the pupils remain constricted. “Essentially, noradrenaline neurons are slaves to orexin neurons” as Professor Denis Burdakov from ETH Zurich describes this situation in the press release.
Medical researchers have already uncovered a connection between a disorder of orexin regulation and narcolepsy. Research at ETH Zurich could now also offer fresh insights into a number of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s and strokes. Moreover, this could hold the key to unlocking a more profound understanding of how the human body regulates consciousness, as ETH Zurich writes in the press release.
As part of their work, the researchers came across different subgroups of orexin neurons that influence different neural functions. The neurotransmitter’s influence “on a host of different behavioural states – from attention, sleep-wake switching and reward-seeking to appetite and energy consumption – makes it a prime candidate for their higher-level regulation”, explains Nikola Grujic, a postdoctoral student at the Neurobehavioural Dynamics Laboratory of ETH Zurich, in the press release. ce/hs
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