Dissociation of thermoregulation in cats with cytotoxic pontine lesions.

Neurons of the pontine tegmentum of the cat were lesioned by microinjection of ibotenic acid into the brainstem. The threshold ambient temperatures for heat-gain (shivering) and for heat-loss (panting) responses, together with brain and skin temperatures, were measured in intact animals and after the neurotoxic lesioning. After the lesioning the shivering threshold was altered but the panting threshold did not change. The results indicate that certain neurons involved in the shivering response reside in the pontine tegmentum. Neurons involved in the panting response, however, may lie outside the lesioned areas.