Brain activation during whole body cooling in humans studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Regional activation of the brain was studied in humans using functional magnetic resonance imaging during whole body cooling that produced thermal comfort/discomfort. Eight normal male subjects lay in a sleeping bag through which air was blown, exposing subjects to cold air (8 degrees C) for 22 min. Each subject scored their degree of thermal comfort and discomfort every min. As the subjects reported more discomfort the blood oxygen level dependent response in the bilateral amygdala increased. There was no activation in the thalamus, somatosensory, cingulate, or insula cortices. This result suggests that the amygdala plays a role in the genesis of thermal discomfort due to cold.
Kanosue
Kazuyuki
K
Department of Physiology, School of Allied Health Sciences, Osaka University Faculty of Medicine, Yamadaoka 1-7, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. kanosue@sahs.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
Sadato
Norihiro
N
Okada
Tomohisa
T
Yoda
Tamae
T
Nakai
Sadamu
S
Yoshida
Kyoko
K
Hosono
Takayoshi
T
Nagashima
Kei
K
Yagishita
Tomoko
T
Inoue
Osamu
O
Kobayashi
Kaoru
K
Yonekura
Yoshiharu
Y
D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male