Thermoregulation as a switchboard of autonomic nervous and endocrine control

Analyzing the multiple effectors of autonomic temperature regulation has, sometimes unexpectedly, provided insights into the characteristics according to which the non-thermoregulatory functions of these effectors are controlled. This article reviews the sympathetic control of cardiovascular and immune functions, hormonal control of energy balance and neurohormonal control of salt and fluid balance inasmuch as they are challenged by competing demands of thermoregulatory requirements. These interactions are taken as examples for the analytical power of the experimental conception to challenge non-thermoregulatory control systems with thermoregulatory activation, and vice versa. Animal models carrying spontaneous or intentionally produced gene defects and molecular and histochemical techniques of gene identification and neuronal tracing are becoming increasingly important. They are applied, in connection with physiological studies exploiting mutual interactions of autonomic control systems, with the aim to elucidate the cytoarchitecture of neuronal circuits by which specific autonomic regulatory activities are controlled.