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PONDEROSTAT [1 record]

Record 1 2025-11-06

English

Subject field(s)
  • Nervous System
  • Hygiene and Health
CONT

The set point theory [is] arguably the most influential and debated theory of body weight control. It suggests that like temperature in a room controlled by a thermostat, body weight(or body fat) is controlled by an equivalent device(ponderostat, adipostat) residing in the hypothalamus. Borrowing from the engineering vocabulary, this device receives feedback input from the controlled parameter(room temperature, body weight or body fat), and generates an error signal in a comparator if this feedback signal is deviating from a preset reference value(set point). The error signal is used to turn up or down any mechanisms that determine the level of the controlled parameter(heat production or dissipation in the case of room temperature, metabolizable energy-in or energy lost in the case of body weight/adiposity).

French

Domaine(s)
  • Système nerveux
  • Hygiène et santé
CONT

L'hypothalamus joue un rôle central dans le contrôle, voire la régulation des réserves énergétiques. C'est le site d'intégration d'un ensemble de mécanismes régulateurs qui intervient pour satisfaire la «valeur de consigne» d'un système réglant que l'on désigne sous le nom de «pondérostat» ou «adipostat». On peut donc considérer que toute déviation pathologique ou pathogène des réserves énergétiques implique cette structure centrale.

Spanish

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