Effects of altering rostral brain stem temperature on temperature regulation in the Adelie penguin, Pygoscelis...

In 4 Adelie penguins, thermodes were implanted in the rostral brain stem. Two animals were additionally equipped with spinal canal thermodes. At thermoneutral (+8 to +16 degrees C) and cold (-18 to -22 degrees C) ambient conditions, the effects of hypothalamic heating and cooling on the surface temperature of one flipper (skin blood flow), oxygen consumption (metabolic heat production) and esophageal (core) temperature were observed in the conscious animals.- Heating the rostral brain stem induced heat defence responses: Heat production was reduced in the cold and skin vasodilatation was evoked at thermoneutral ambient conditions. As a rule, core temperature fell during rostral brain stem heating.- Cooling the rostral brain stem did not induce clear-cut cold defence responses. On the contrary, strong cooling at thermo-neutral ambient conditions induced vasodilation in the skin. In the cold, even slight degrees of rostral brain stem cooling decreased metabolic heat production. As a rule, core temperature fell when the rostral brain stem was cooled.- It is concluded from the results that thermosensitive structures in the stimulated section of the rostral brain stem of the Adelie penguin contribute to the central temperature signal input in the range of normal to elevated core temperatures. These hypothalamic warm signals appear to be at least as effective as spinal warm signals in controlling skin blood flow and metabolic heat production. The inhibition of ongoing thermoregulatory effector activity by rostral brain stem cooling suggests positive temperature coefficients of the integrative and/or efferent neurons in the hypothalamic temperature regulation center of the Adelie penguin.