Age-related decline in cold tolerance can be retarded by brain stimulation

The sharp decline in capacity of old C57BL/6J male mice to maintain body temperature during 3-hr cold exposure can be delayed and even partly restored after 15, 30-min, daily sessions of hypothalamic self-stimulation. In control experiments it was demonstrated that electrical stimulation of "rewarding" areas of hypothalamus itself is sufficient for improvement of the age-related deterioration of thermoregulatory ability.