Biological Psychology

Thirst
Table of Contents
Mechanisms of Water Regulation

Osmotic Thirst

Hypovolemic Thirst and Sodium-Specific Hunger

The Psychology and Biology of Thirst

 Mechanisms of
Water Regulation
Water constitutes about 70% of the mammalian body.
The body needs enough fluid in the circulatory system to maintain normal
blood pressure.

People sometimes survive for weeks without food, but not without water
 Mechanisms of
Water Regulation
Different species have different strategies for maintaining water.

Species live in Desert Animals

Rivers or Lakes

Beavers and other species that live in Gerbils and other desert animals don’t need to drink
rivers or lakes drink plenty of water, eat at all. They gain water from their food and they have
moist foods, and excrete dilute urine. many adaptations to avoid losing water, including the
ability to excrete dry feces and concentrated urine.
 Mechanisms of
Water Regulation
We humans vary our strategy depending on circumstances. If you cannot find
enough to drink or if the water tastes bad, you conserve water by excreting more
concentrated urine and decreasing your sweat

Posterior pituitary releases the hormone vasopressin that raises blood pressure by
constricting blood vessels. (The term vasopressin comes from vascular pressure.)

Vasopressin is also known as antidiuretic hormone (ADH) because it enables the

kidneys to reabsorb water from urine and therefore make the urine more
concentrated. (Diuresis means “urination.”)
 Major Subdivision of the
Hypothalamus and pituitary
Osmotic Thirst
A type of thirst that is triggered by changes in the concentration of solutes,
such as salt or other dissolved particles, in the extracellular fluid of the body.

Osmotic Pressure
The tendency of water to flow across a semipermeable membrane from the
area of low solute concentration to the area of higher concentration.

Osmotic pressure occurs when solutes are more concentrated on one side of
the membrane than the other.
Osmotic Pressure
 How does the brain detect
osmotic pressure?
Oraganum Vasculosum Laminae Terminals (OVLT)
A region in the brain, located around the third ventricle.
Receives input from the receptors in the digestive tract, enabling the brain
to anticipate an osmotic need before the rest of the body experiences it.

Subfornical Organ (SFO)

Involved in regulating various physiological functions, including thirst, by
detecting changes in the composition of the blood.

Subfornical Supraoptic Nucleus

organ
a cluster of nerve cells located in the hypothalamus region of the brain.
Paraventricular Nucleus (PVN)
OVLT Third Ventricle it detects the increase of osmolality in the blood, indicating a state of
dehydration.
 Hypovolemic Thirst and
Sodium-Specific Hunger
Losing a significant amount of body fluid through bleeding, diarrhea, or sweating can hinder the heart's ability
to pump blood efficiently to the head, and nutrients will not flow as easily as usual into your cells.

When the body loses fluids, there is a decrease in blood volume, which can result in a drop in blood pressure.
Blood volume - crucial factor in heart pumping

When the heart is having difficulty pumping blood effectively, the body will react with hormones that constrict
blood vessels—vasopressin and angiotensin II (compensating for the drop in blood pressure)

When blood volume drops, the kidneys release the enzyme renin
Renin - splits a portion of angiotensinogen, a large protein in the blood, to form angiotensin I, which other
enzymes convert to angiotensin

Angiotensin II constricts
Angiotensin I is
Low blood Kidneys release Proteins in blood blood vessels and stimulates
converted to
volume renin into blood form angiotensin I cells in subfornical organ
angiotensin II
to increase drinking
 Hypovolemic Thirst and
Sodium-Specific Hunger
Angiotensin II - helps trigger thirst (hypovolemic thirst), in conjunction with receptors that detect blood pressure in the large veins.

Hypovolemic Thirst VS. Osmotic Thirst

Osmotic Thirst - only motivates to drink water to restore imbalance in body fluids
Hypovolemic thirst - Need to restore lost salts and not just water (thirst based on low volume)

The Role of Angiotensin II in the Brain

1. When angiotensin II reaches the brain, it stimulates neurons in areas adjoining the third ventricle
Third ventricle
a fluid-filled cavity within the brain
contain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

2. Those neurons send axons to the hypothalamus, where they release angiotensin II as their neurotransmitter
The neurons surrounding the third ventricle both respond to angiotensin II and release it.
The connection between a neurotransmitter and its function is not arbitrary—there is a meaningful relationship between the
chemical and its function. The brain uses a chemical that was already performing a related function elsewhere in the body.
Sodium-Specific Hunger
Sodium-Specific Hunger - shows a strong craving for salty tastes
depends partly on hormones
Specific hungers for other vitamins and minerals have to be learned by trial and error

Aldosterone - A hormone produce by the adrenal glands when the body’s sodium reserves are low
causes the kidneys, salivary glands, and sweat glands to retain salt

Aldosterone and angiotensin II

together change the properties of taste receptors on the tongue, neurons in the nucleus of the
tractus solitarius (part of the taste system), and neurons elsewhere in the brain to increase salt intake.

Note that;
Aldosterone - indicates low sodium
Angiotensin II - indicates low blood volume

Either one by itself produces only a small effect on salt intake

Combined effect is a massive increase in a preference for salt, sometimes producing a preference for salt over
sugar or anything else
 Osmotic and
Hypovolemic Thirst:
DIFFERENCE
The Psychological and
Biological of Thirst
You control your body temperature partly by automatic means, such as
sweating or shivering, but also partly by behavioral means, such as choosing
a warm or cool place. You control your body water partly by the behavior of
drinking but also by hormones that alter kidney activity. If your kidneys
cannot regulate your water and sodium adequately, your brain gets signals
to change your drinking or sodium intake.
 Biological Psychology

Thank You
Drink your water bhie