Brain Cooling: An Economy Mode of Temperature Regulation in Artiodactyls.

Artiodactyls employ selective brain cooling (SBC) regularly during experimental hyperthermia. In free-ranging antelopes, however, SBC often was present when body temperature was low but absent when brain temperature was near 42 degrees C. The primary effect of SBC is to adjust the activity of the heat loss mechanisms to the magnitude of the heat stress rather than to the protection of the brain from thermal damage.