experimenter blind to the group of animals, in the perioculomotor urocortin-containing neuronal population (pIIIu), the arcuate nucleus (Arc) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The same sections contained the VTA and the pIIIu and encompassed bregma levels −2.80 to −3.88. According to the Allen Brain Atlas (www.brain-map.org), mRNA for GHSR 1a is present across the entire rostrocaudal extent of the pIIIu and therefore all sections containing the pIIIu were included in the analysis. Sections containing the Arc were taken from bregma levels −1.46 to −2.54. Since the pIIIu is a midline brain region, the presented cell counts are for the entire nucleus, whereas for the VTA and the Arc, the counts are for one hemisphere. At least two sections per region per animal were analyzed, and the counts were averaged resulting in a single data point for each animal in statistical analysis.
