Salt or osmo-sensors play a major role in the neural and neuroendocrine regulation of salt-water balance in the human body. However, there is no agreement on their precise location in the brain or periphery, their morphological features are unknown, their mode of activation incompletely understood, and their neural integration virtually unexplored. Dr. Alex Baertschi has developed an animal model system to study these issues. He will first determine the physiological significance of a splanchnic salt-input sensitive mechanism by comparing the effects of systemic and gastric saline infusions on plasma arginine vasopressin. Next he will determine sensory mechanisms and peripheral neural pathways for salt-input detection. Finally, he will determine the central route of splanchnic salt- input sensitive afferents to the magnocellular hypothalamic vasopressinergic nuclei. This work is important as we try to understand how the nervous system codes for and integrates information concerning salt intake. This work is relevant to eating behaviors both normal and abnormal and may give us a more defined knowledge regarding salt sensors in the human body.
