Investigations of neural pathways for heat loss and heat gain in thermoregulation and fever

该项目旨在绘制实验大鼠大脑中参与体温调节的神经路径图。将被研究的大脑区域是下丘脑区域。我们将确定当动物暴露在凉爽的环境中时，或者当动物因细菌感染而发烧时，该区域如何影响皮肤血管的收缩，以减少热量损失。此外，我们还将比较控制脂肪组织在感冒或发烧时产生热量的神经通路与控制流向皮肤的血液的神经通路。这些神经通路对于在全身麻醉、感染或在极端温度下的老年人保持正确的体温可能是至关重要的。因此，它们对大部分人口的健康和福祉具有重要意义。

This project aims to map the nerve pathways in the brain that participate in the regulation of body temperature in the laboratory rat. The area of the brain that will be studied is the hypothalamic region. We will determine how this region influences the constriction of blood vessels in the skin to reduce heat loss when an animal is exposed to a cool environment, or when it exhibits a fever in response to a bacterial infection. As well, we will compare the nervous pathway that controls the generation of heat from fat tissue in response to cold or fever with those controlling blood flow to the skin. These nervous pathways may be critical for maintaining correct body temperature during general anaesthesia, infections or in the aged subjected to temperature extremes. Thus, they are of importance in the health and well-being of much of the population.