HEMINGWAY, A. 
All evidence indicates that the region of the brain most effec- 
tive and important for temperature regulation is in the hypothalamus, 
and that this part of the brain must be functional and connected 
through nervous pathways with the lower motor centers. However, 
temperature regulation can be influenced by activities of the cere- 
bellum, the cerebrum, and the midbrain. 
Efferent system. The efferent system for temperature regu- 
lation involves several pathways. Shivering pathways essential for 
effective shivering travel downward through the midbrain and medul- 
la tothe lower motor neurons. A possible pathway for these impulses 
will be described later. Panting involves pathways of the respiratory 
system. Cutaneous vasomotor activity and sweating are mediated by 
fibers of the automatic nervous system. 
Feedback. The riiythm of shivering is controlled by proprio- 
ceptive activity (Perkins, 1945; Lippold, Redfeam, and Vuco, 1958). 
The level in the central nervous system at which this feedback 
control is integrated is as yet undetermined. 
Experimental Evidence 
This concept of the neuralmechanisms controllingtemperature 
regulation is based on a large amount of experimental evidence 
accumulated mainly in the past 50 years. Some of the experimental 
data which have contributed to our understanding of how the nervous 
system controls temperature regulation, especially shivering, will 
now be reviewed. 
The experimental methods used by neurophysiologists in 
studying functional activity of the nervous system have consisted 
of the following four procedures: (1) Studying physiological response 
to cold after transections, (2) study ingles ions of the central nervous 
system, (3) studying the responses evoked by electrical stimulation 
of various points ofthe brain, and (4) recording of electrical activity 
associated with a particular physiological activity. Examples of 
these procedures with their role in temperature regulation will now 
be given. 
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