Part II - Neurotransmitters and Hormones Epinephrine and Norepinephrine
We are still doing our literature review on
neurotransmitters and hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine
and their role in thermal regulation, but wanted to share this
animation from the TED Ed library on, "How do nerves work?".
You
can read more about nerves and thermal sensors in
Part I,
but you should know the neurotransmitters referred to in the
animation (synaptic transmission, synapse), when related to
blood vessel dilation and contraction for thermal regulation is epinephrine
and norepinephrine.
Fig. 1 How do nerves work? -
Elliot Krane, courtesy of TED Ed
Figure 2. The regulation of blood flow happens when the nerves (yellow) stimulate the artery muscle to contract, thereby maintaining blood
pressure. Increase in stimulation causes constriction of the
vessel and an increase in blood pressure. Decreases in stimulation causes a dilation of the vessel and a drop in blood pressure. The change in pressure regulates flow just like in a hot water heating system. The warmer the internal body temperature, the greater the blood flow to the skin where heat is radiated, convected, evaporated and conducted away for
thermal cooling. Image credit: John Bavosi/Science Photo
Library
A Note about Hormones and Stress: Cortisol, Epinephrine and Norepinephrine
Figure 3. How stress affects your body - Sharon
Horesh Bergquist, Our hard-wired stress response is designed to
give us the quick burst of heightened alertness and energy
needed to perform our best. But stress isn’t all good. When
activated too long or too often, stress can damage virtually
every part of our body. Sharon Horesh Bergquist gives us a look
at what goes on inside our body when we are chronically
stressed. Credit:
courtesy of TED Ed
More to come!
Images:
Figure 1 How
do nerves work? - Elliot Krane, courtesy of TED Ed
Bean, R.,
The Big Picture: Enclosures, indoor environmental quality
and HVAC systems cannot be treated as isolated and independent
systems – they are in fact one of the same, Better Buildings –
Beyond the Benchmark, Fall 2011
Eccles, R., An explanation for the
seasonality of acute upper respiratory tract viral
infections. Acta Otolaryngol 2002; 122:183–191. <http://tinyurl.com/mndbpph>
Mitchell, H.,
Can Going In and Out of Air Conditioning Cause Colds?
How
exposing the body to extreme temperature swings can lower our
natural defenses (content expert, Prof. R. Eccles, director of
the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University in Wales) Wall
Street Journal, Monday, August 19, 2013. Accessed August 23,
2013
