Simultaneous and direct recording of temperature from the body, hypothalamus, and cortex in animals exposed to acute thermal challenges lack evidence. This study was conducted to assess the usual concept, that brain temperature is rather stable when animals are exposed to different ambient temperatures. In this study, we report the characteristic changes in the body, hypothalamic, and cortical temperature, when the rats were acutely exposed to cold (6 °C) and hot (36 °C) ambient temperature. The results of our study show that the body temperature is robustly regulated while hypothalamic and cortical temperatures vary on challenges to ambient cold (6 °C) and warm (36 °C) exposure in awake rats. The onset of response was observed quickest in the cortex, indicating that the cortical thermal sensing may relay intracranial thermal input to the hypothalamus for the regulation of body temperature within narrow limits. The present findings contradict earlier evidence, which stated that the brain does not participate in thermal sensing.

中文翻译：

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皮质比清醒大鼠的下丘脑更早地感知环境温度

同时直接记录暴露于急性热挑战的动物的身体、下丘脑和皮层的温度缺乏证据。进行这项研究是为了评估通常的概念，即当动物暴露于不同的环境温度时，大脑温度相当稳定。在这项研究中，我们报告了当大鼠急性暴露于冷 (6 °C) 和热 (36 °C) 环境温度时，身体、下丘脑和皮质温度的特征变化。我们的研究结果表明，清醒大鼠的体温受到严格调节，而下丘脑和皮质温度因环境寒冷 (6 °C) 和温暖 (36 °C) 暴露的挑战而异。在皮质中观察到反应的开始最快，表明皮质热感应可以将颅内热输入传递到下丘脑，以在狭窄的范围内调节体温。目前的发现与早期的证据相矛盾，该证据表明大脑不参与热感应。