Morrison et al. show that the inhibition of ventromedial periventricular area (VMPeA) induces a state of thermoregulatory inversion (TI) in which thermogenic responses to cold ambient exposure are actively inhibited by an alternative thermoregulatory pathway via a dynorphinergic system. VMPeA is a switch for this novel thermoregulatory paradigm.

Experiments in mice show that the perineural net has a key role in metabolic disease by controlling insulin access to neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus.