Effect of hypothermia on the thalamocortical function in the rat model

Neuroprotective effects of hypothermia are well documented in many injuries of the central nervous system in animal models as well as clinical studies. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. An important yet unexplored background issue is the effect of hypothermic cooling on the regional functionality of the healthy CNS. In a pilot study with the rat model, we seek to characterize the effect of moderate bodily cooling on the thalamo-cortical (T-C) function. Multiunit activity (MUA) and local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded from the thalamus (VPL nucleus) and the somatosensory cortex (S1) for normothermic, mild hypothermic and mild hyperthermic conditions in healthy rats and the thalamo-cortical dynamics was characterized with Granger Causal Interaction (GCI). The GCI indicated that the thalamic driving of the cortical activity significantly increases in strength with bodily cooling and weakens with mild heating. These results could have important implications towards understanding of hypothermia.