Summary
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1.
Unit activity has been recorded from the antero-medial hypothalamic area of sedated rabbits while ambient and hypothalamic temperatures were independently varied.
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2.
Out of 202 neurones tested, 19 were found which responded in less than 1 min to rapid changes in ambient temperature of ±15° C. Thirteen neurones responded only to cooling, two only to warming and four to both warming and cooling.
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3.
For a given direction of temperature changes, some units showed an accelerated firing rate while others were slowed.
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4.
It was possible to test 8 of these cells which responded to ambient temperature changes for their sensitivity to hypothalamic temperature. Six of them were found to have this additional temperature response.
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5.
The results support recent hypotheses of temperature regulation in that they show there is a convergence of thermal information from peripheral and central receptors at the level of the anterior hypothalamus.
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Hellon, R.F. The stimulation of hypothalamic neurones by changes in ambient temperature. Pflugers Arch. 321, 56–66 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00594122
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00594122