Publications by authors named "Bethany T Nelson"
Article Synopsis
- Researchers studied fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a hormone that influences metabolism, in hibernating thirteen-lined ground squirrels, discovering that FGF21 levels increase during both torpor and interbout arousals compared to active summer periods.
- Though artificially increasing FGF21 levels in the squirrels showed some metabolic changes, it did not trigger torpor, suggesting that while FGF21 is important during hibernation, it alone cannot induce this state.
Circulation and metabolic rates in a natural hibernator: an integrative physiological model.
Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol
December 2010
Small hibernating mammals show regular oscillations in their heart rate and body temperature throughout the winter. Long periods of torpor are abruptly interrupted by arousals with heart rates that rapidly increase from 5 beats/min to over 400 beats/min and body temperatures that increase by ∼30°C only to drop back into the hypothermic torpid state within hours. Surgically implanted transmitters were used to obtain high-resolution electrocardiogram and body temperature data from hibernating thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus).
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