Chronic sleep deprivation may be required to reveal the most serious physiological consequences of sleep loss, but it usually requires strong stimulation which can obscure the interpretation of effects. The disk-over-water method permits chronic sleep deprivation of rats with gentle physical stimulation that can be equally applied to yoked control rats. A series of studies with this method has ...

This study aimed to examine thermoregulatory responses in birds facing two commonly experienced stressors, cold and fasting. Logging devices allowing long-term and precise access to internal body temperature were placed within the gizzards of ducklings acclimated to cold (CA) (5°C) or thermoneutrality (TN) (25°C). The animals were then examined under three equal 4-day periods: ad libitum feedin...

Regulation of body temperature and sleep are two physiological mechanisms that are vital for our survival. Interestingly neural structures implicated in both these functions are common. These areas include the medial preoptic area (POA), the lateral POA, the ventrolateral POA, the median preoptic nucleus, and the medial septum, which form part of the basal forebrain (BF). When given a choice, r...

AIMS We examined the thermoregulatory response to heat exposure in patients with chronic heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS Skin blood flow (SkBF) was measured in HF subjects and matched controls. Cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) was calculated from laser-Doppler SkBF and blood pressure. To assess the nitric oxide contribution to thermoregulatory responses, subcutaneous microdialysis memb...

Lesion and thermal stimulation studies suggest that temperature regulation is controlled by a hierarchy of neural structures. Effector areas for specific thermoregulatory responses are located throughout the brain stem and spinal cord. The preoptic region, in and near the rostral hypothalamus, acts as a coordinating center and strongly influences each of the lower effector areas. The preoptic a...

The development of gull chicks is typically considered semi-precocial, because the birds remain in or near the nest for some days after hatching and depend on parental care, but hatch with downy coverings and possess some thermoregulatory ability (Drent 1967; Palokangas and Hissa 1971; Dawson et al. 1972, 1976; Dunn 1976; Dawson and Bennett 1980. 1981). Newlv hatched chicks of several gull spec...

A patient with a cervical cord transection isolating his hypothalamic thermoregulatory centers from peripheral effectors suffered a fatal hyperthermic episode after receiving haloperidol. This suggests that neuroleptic malignant syndrome is caused by a peripheral, not central, effect of haloperidol.

A case of post-traumatic hypothalamic hypothermia is described. An unusually selective defect in thermoregulatory function was demonstrated together with a defect in thyroid function suggestive of impaired hypothalamic control.

Two patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis presented with acute hypothermia and on recovery were found to be chronically hypothermic. Thermoregulatory studies indicated a central, hypothalamic defect which is presumed to be due to a plaque of demyelination.

Pitvipers (Viperidae: Crotalinae) possess thermal radiation receptors, the facial pits, which allow them to detect modest temperature fluctuations within their environments. It was previously thought that these organs were used solely to aid in prey acquisition, but recent findings demonstrated that western diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox) use them to direct behavioral thermoregulation...