title: Brain activation during whole body cooling in humans studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanosue
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sadato
authors.forename: Tomohisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Tamae
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoda
authors.forename: Sadamu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Takayoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hosono
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagashima
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yagishita
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yonekura
mesh_terms: 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