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Using
a Comparative Physiological approach, we study animals
that have naturally evolved physiological defence mechanisms
for coping with hypoxia. We are also interested in understanding
how animals utilise temperature to alter their metabolic
needs. It is well known that in the cold, metabolic
processes slow down which allows hibernating animals
to survive long winters without food.
All
animals require oxygen to maintain aerobic metabolism
and ultimately to survive. Nonetheless, there are many
situations such as intertidal zones, ice-covered lakes,
high altitude, and underground burrows, where oxygen
can be limiting. This is referred to as hypoxia. Animals
possess numerous adaptations for coping with these kinds
of environmental stresses.
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One
goal of our research program is to understand how animals
control their metabolism and body temperature during
times when a high metabolic rate or high body temperature
are impossible or inefficient to sustain, such as seen
during hypoxia, hypothermia, hibernation, torpor or
sleep.
When
faced with hypoxia animals actually
prefer lower body temperatures and metabolism,
implying a neural mechanism to this process. In other
words, the brain's thermostat is lowered in hypoxia.
Understanding this process will shed light on how animals
modify and manipulate body temperature and metabolism
and improve our understanding of how the body
maintains thermal homeostasis.
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