Tag Archives: temperature changes

July 2, 2018 · 12:03 am

How the Brain Processes Temperature Information to Alter Behavior – Harvard

In view of the current heat wave, I thought this study would be of particular interest.

Researchers report on how specific neurons can process sensory information about temperature and facilitate a change in behavior to adapt to the climate.

Do you pause what you’re doing to put on a sweater because you feel chilly? Do you click the thermostat up a few degrees on a winter day? What about keeping a fan on your desk, or ducking into an air-conditioned room to beat the heat?

If so (and, let’s face it, everyone has), then you’ve used sensory information about your environment — the temperature — to alter your behavior.

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Haesemeyer said he plans to work on getting a more detailed picture of the neural circuit in the hind brain that translates heat information into behavior. NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.

But exactly how the brain processes that information has largely remained a mystery. To shed light on that, a team of researchers led by Martin Haesemeyer, a research associate in the labs of Florian Engert, professor of molecular and cellular biology, and Alexander Schier, the Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, turned to an unlikely subject: zebrafish. Continue reading →

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March 3, 2018 · 12:06 am

Heart attacks often follow dramatic changes in outdoor temperature

As regular readers know I pretty much ride my bike every day here in Chicago. I say ‘pretty much’ because several  years ago, my doctor told me that I shouldn’t be doing my big rides in high temperatures. I said that I felt I was in great shape and my body could handle it. She answered that she said the same thing to her 40-year-old patients. Extreme heat puts the body under special stress and it is not wise to actively exercise in those conditions.

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Here I am riding with my dog in the annual Bike the Drive ride in Chicago down Lake Shore Drive. As a Memorial Day ride, the temps rarely hit high extremes.

Now, it seems that now only high temp extremes, but also large intra-day changes can be damaging, according to a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 67th Annual Scientific Session. It states that large day-to-day swings in temperature were associated with significantly more heart attacks in a study being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 67th Annual Scientific Session.

Regarding extreme weather events, Hedvig Andersson, MD, a cardiology researcher at the University of Michigan and the study’s lead author, said, “Our study suggests that such fluctuations in outdoor temperature could potentially lead to an increased number of heart attacks and affect global cardiac health in the future.”

There is a large body of evidence showing that outdoor temperature affects the rate of heart attacks, with cold weather bringing the highest risk, but most previous studies have focused on overall daily temperatures. This new study is among the first to examine associations with sudden temperature changes. Continue reading →

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Filed under cold weather exercising, Exercise, heart, heart attack, high blood pressure, outdoor exercise, Risky exercise, smoking, Smoking dangers, summer exercise, temperature changes

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