Coordination of autonomic and behavioral thermoregulatory responses during exposure to a novel stimulus in rats

The induction of psychological stress in rats is accompanied by an elevation of core temperature. Our experiments were carried out to determine whether the latency, duration, magnitude, or effector mechanisms of the core temperature response to psychological stress would be altered when rats were allowed to use behavioral as well as autonomic thermoregulation. Core temperature, oxygen consumption, and ambient temperature were measured in adult rats before and after handling and a sham intraperitoneal injection. Seven rats were studied in a thermocline (gradient of 7 to 42 degrees C) and eight rats were studied in a metabolic chamber (25 degrees C). The rats studied in the thermocline selected a warm ambient temperature following the sham intraperitoneal injection and exhibited an increase in core temperature of shorter latency, greater magnitude, and greater duration than those studied in the metabolic chamber. The rats studied in the metabolic chamber exhibited an oxygen consumption response of greater magnitude and duration than the animals studied in the thermocline. Thus the characteristics in addition to the effector mechanisms of the core temperature response to psychological stress are altered when rats are allowed to use behavioral as well as autonomic thermoregulatory effectors.