Hypergravic fields and parallel controllers for thermoregulation.
To test the proposal that mammals have parallel neurocontrollers for temperature regulation, Long-Evans hooded male rats were exposed to cold while in a 3-G field. When exposed to cold, these rats consumed 35% less oxygen/min at 3 G than they did when exposed to cold at 1 G. However, rats acclimated for 6 wk to 5 degrees C consumed oxygen at the same rate during cold exposure at 3 G as at 1 G. Because cold-acclimated rats generate heat primarily by nonshivering thermogenesis while rats acclimated to room temperature rely to a greater extent on shivering, the 35% decrease in oxygen consumption of cold-exposed room-temperature rats in 3-G fields may reflect an inactivation of shivering. These oxygen consumption measurements, together with measurements of core and tail temperatures of rats in 3-G fields, are consistent with the proposal that neurocontrollers for thermoregulation are arranged in parallel and can be uncoupled by hypergravic fields.
D000064:Acclimatization; D000818:Animals; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D003080:Cold Temperature; D006112:Gravitation; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012149:Restraint, Physical