The aim of this research is to understand how the circulatory system is controlled, with the ultimate objective of determining which control factors are most directly involved in the production of essential hypertension. Over the past year we phased out the baboon research. In one aspect of the work we completed the lesions of the HACER (hypothalamic area controlling emotional responses), a region of the hypothalamus. Data analyses showed a dramatic correlation between the resting level of blood pressure and the decrease in that pressure level after hypothalamic lesions. Retrospective analysis of data obtained since 1986 showed that animals with spontaneous hypertension were returned to normotensive levels. In the second aspect, we found that dominant male baboons in social situations showed significantly elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and catecholamines during the presentation of food, whereas subordinate males did not show elevations in these variables.
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