Somatosensory Neurons Enter a State of Altered Excitability during Hibernation.

ABSTRACT: Hibernation in mammals involves prolonged periods of inactivity, hypothermia, hypometabolism, and decreased somatosensation. Peripheral somatosensory neurons play an essential role in the detection and transmission of sensory information to CNS and in the generation of adaptive responses. During hibernation, when body temperature drops to as low as 2°C, animals dramatically reduce their sensitivity to physical cues [1, 2]. It is well established that, in non-hibernators, cold exposure suppresses energy production, leading to dissipation of the ionic and electrical gradients across the plasma membrane and, in the case of neurons, inhibiting the generation of action potentials [3]. Conceivably, such cold-induced elimination of electrogenesis could be part of a general mechanism that inhibits

SUBMITTER: Hoffstaetter LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6173314 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature