Project Goals

Rat models have shown that heating an injured rat leads to higher morbidity. As patients with traumatic injury are unable to thermo-regulate on their own, their management and individualized treatment is very important. The research I am conducting now and in the spring has the capability to provide additional information to clinical response teams as to how they should treat the brain in times of extreme heat or cold. Knowing which specific area of the rat’s thermoregulation centers affects their cognizant response to extreme temperature is vital, as the information can be then applied to humans in treatment of injuries that occur in times of direct exposure to extreme temperature.

Analyzing the Impact of Stimuli on Thermoregulation Response and Behavior Modification in Rats has two primary objectives; 

• First, I will analyze the effect of brain lesions, medications, and other stimuli on thermoregulation response, and
• Second, I determine which areas of the brain’s thermoregulation centers cause response to extreme temperature. 

The primary question my senior research project will answer is “Which areas of the brain’s thermoregulatory centers cause response to noxious cold or hot stimuli?” 

I will perform brain lesions and sham lesions on rats in order to gather information on their temperature response. While I will experiment on rats, I can extrapolate results and conclusions from my experimentation to the human body and its response to noxious cold and hot stimuli.