How Your Brain Controls Body Temperature
Brainstem cold-defense circuitry
This project explores how a specific part of your brain helps your body respond to cold temperatures, especially when these responses are not working correctly due to injury or illness.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Iowa NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Iowa City, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11113830 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Many people struggle with feeling cold all the time or face dangers from accidental hypothermia, often because their body's natural cold defenses are weakened by conditions like aging, disease, or brain injury. Our bodies have special brain cells that sense cold and trigger actions to keep us warm, but we don't fully understand how to target these cells. This work focuses on a specific area in the brainstem, called the parabrachial nucleus, where cold signals from the entire body are gathered. By understanding these key brain cells, we hope to find new ways to help people who are always cold or to improve treatments for conditions like obesity and therapeutic hypothermia.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: This foundational work could eventually benefit patients experiencing chronic cold intolerance, those with acquired brain injuries affecting temperature regulation, or individuals who might benefit from thermogenic treatments.
Not a fit: Patients not experiencing issues with body temperature regulation or those without conditions affecting cold defense mechanisms would not directly benefit from this specific research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to new treatments for chronic cold intolerance, obesity, and improved methods for therapeutic hypothermia.
How similar studies have performed: This project aims to close a knowledge gap by selectively targeting central cold-defense neurons, suggesting a novel approach to understanding these circuits.
Where this research is happening
Iowa City, United States
- University of Iowa — Iowa City, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Geerling, Joel Charles — University of Iowa
- Study coordinator: Geerling, Joel Charles
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.