|
|
||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Radiology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
2 Department of Chemistry, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
3 Department of Radiology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: yablonskiyd{at}wustl.edu.
Normal brain functioning largely depends on maintaining brain temperature. However, the mechanisms protecting brain against a cooler environment are poorly understood. Reported herein is the first detailed measurement of the brain-temperature profile. It is found to be exponential, defined by a characteristic temperature shielding length, with cooler peripheral areas and a warmer brain core approaching body temperature. Direct cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurements with microspheres show that the characteristic temperature shielding length is inversely proportional to the square root of CBF in excellent agreement with a theoretical model. This "temperature shielding effect" quantifies the means by which CBF prevents "extracranial cold" from penetrating deep brain structures. The effect is crucial for research and clinical applications - the relationship between brain, body and extracranial temperatures can now be quantitatively predicted.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
C. I. Moore and R. Cao The Hemo-Neural Hypothesis: On The Role of Blood Flow in Information Processing J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2008; 99(5): 2035 - 2047. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Hasegawa, M. F. Piacentini, S. Sarre, Y. Michotte, T. Ishiwata, and R. Meeusen Influence of brain catecholamines on the development of fatigue in exercising rats in the heat J. Physiol., January 1, 2008; 586(1): 141 - 149. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. A. Neimark, A.-A. Konstas, A. F. Laine, and J. Pile-Spellman Integration of jugular venous return and circle of Willis in a theoretical human model of selective brain cooling J Appl Physiol, November 1, 2007; 103(5): 1837 - 1847. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |