Illuminating the Complexity of the Human Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus is a small but crucial part of the brain that exerts control over a variety of critical functions like circadian rhythm, blood pressure, hunger and satiety, sleep-wake cycles, and stress responses. Assessments of the hypothalamus, the nerve cells it contains, and the hormones and other substances they produce and release, have been primarily modeled and studied in animals. Researchers have now performed a careful examination of the cells that compose the human hypothalamus, assessing them at the single-cell level from development to…