The concentrations of monoamines and various neuropeptides were determined in the hypothalamus of brains from patients with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia (n = 26) and compared with control values (n = 21). Decreased concentrations of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (P less than 0.05) and homovanillic acid (P less than 0.01) were found, and increased arginine vasopressin- (P less than 0.01), galanin- (P less than 0.05) and somatostatin- (P less than 0.01) like immunoreactivity. It is proposed that this disequilibrium may be important for certain circadian symptoms, e.g. the changes in sleep/wake rhythms that are rather often observed in dementia.