Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2024;1461:189-198. doi: 10.1007/978-981-97-4584-5_13.
A new behavioral test was developed to investigate the neural mechanisms of voluntary, behavioral thermoregulatory responses. The apparatus used in this test consisted of a thermostatic chamber that maintained the ambient temperature at a chosen level and two side-by-side floor plates that were placed in the thermostatic chamber and could be set to different temperatures. As the three temperatures, ambient temperature and two plate temperatures, can be controlled independently, we term this behavioral test the three-temperature (3 T) test. When the ambient temperature was 28 °C with floor plate temperatures of 25 °C and 35 °C, mice showed preference to the warm plate over the cool one. By contrast, when the ambient temperature was 40 °C, the mice showed preference to the cool plate, that is, a cool-seeking behavior. Detailed analyses of the time courses of the plate preference and core body temperature revealed that this cool-seeking behavior contributed to the regulation of body temperature. By using the 3 T test in combination with the latest in vivo imaging techniques for real-time measurement of neuronal activities and neurotransmitter releases in the brain of freely-moving animals, the neural mechanisms of voluntary, behavioral thermoregulatory responses could be elucidated in the near future.
一项新的行为测试被开发出来，以研究自愿的、行为性体温调节反应的神经机制。该测试使用的设备由一个恒温室组成，恒温室将环境温度维持在选定的水平，还有两个并排放置在恒温室内的地板，可以设置为不同的温度。由于三个温度（环境温度和两个板温度）可以独立控制，我们将这种行为测试称为三温度（3T）测试。当环境温度为 28°C，地板温度为 25°C 和 35°C 时，小鼠表现出对温暖板的偏好，而不是对凉爽板的偏好。相比之下，当环境温度为 40°C 时，小鼠表现出对凉爽板的偏好，即寻求凉爽的行为。对板偏好和核心体温时间过程的详细分析表明，这种寻求凉爽的行为有助于调节体温。通过在 3T 测试中结合最新的活体成像技术，实时测量自由活动动物大脑中的神经元活动和神经递质释放，有望在不久的将来阐明自愿的、行为性体温调节反应的神经机制。
