Abstract
Temperature-sensitive neurons in the preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus (PO/AH) play the key role in most concepts of nervous control of body temperature. In these models neuronal temperature sensitivity is considered to be a fixed property. However, there is increasing evidence that the temperature sensitivity of hypothalamic neurons can be modulated particularly by endogenous substances which affect body temperature upon intra-hypothalamic application and/or are involved in fever reactions or antifebrile regulations (1,2, 3). In this respect, pyrogens were the first substances reported to change the temperature coefficient (TC) of hypothalamic neurons in rabbits (4). In general, changes of temperature sensitivity would imply that the gain of the system may increase or decrease. However, the observed changes of the TC also transform temperature-insensitive neurons (IS) into warm-sensitive neurons (WS) and vice versa. It is tempting to suggest that this results not only in quantitative changes but leads to a reorganization of the neuronal network responsible for the control of body temperature.
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© 1994 Birkhäuser Verlag Basel
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Pierau, FK., Schenda, J., Konrad, M., Sann, H. (1994). Possible Implications of the Plasticity of Temperature-Sensitive Neurons in the Hypothalamus. In: Zeisberger, E., Schönbaum, E., Lomax, P. (eds) Thermal Balance in Health and Disease. APS Advances in Pharmacological Sciences. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-7429-8_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-7429-8_4
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