Animals (Feb 2024)

Hypothalamic Neuromodulation of Hypothermia in Domestic Animals

  • Daniel Mota-Rojas,
  • Marcelo Daniel Ghezzi,
  • Ismael Hernández-Ávalos,
  • Adriana Domínguez-Oliva,
  • Alejandro Casas-Alvarado,
  • Pamela Anahí Lendez,
  • María Carolina Ceriani,
  • Dehua Wang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14030513
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 3
p. 513

Abstract

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When an organism detects decreases in their core body temperature, the hypothalamus, the main thermoregulatory center, triggers compensatory responses. These responses include vasomotor changes to prevent heat loss and physiological mechanisms (e.g., shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis) for heat production. Both types of changes require the participation of peripheral thermoreceptors, afferent signaling to the spinal cord and hypothalamus, and efferent pathways to motor and/or sympathetic neurons. The present review aims to analyze the scientific evidence of the hypothalamic control of hypothermia and the central and peripheral changes that are triggered in domestic animals.

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