Figure 2.

Schematic of the thermoregulatory system and pharmacological targets for its modulation. The thermoregulatory system modifies the heat exchange between the body and the environment to maintain a particular balance level of core body temperature. The thermoregulatory system consists of thermoreceptors, afferent pathways, central thermoregulatory neurons, efferent pathways and effector organs. Strategies for controlling or blocking thermoregulatory responses may be aimed at each of these levels of organization (indicated by green captions). See text for detailed discussion. Notes: (1) thermoregulatory centers in hypothalamus are actually complex multi-neuronal circuits, but for clarity are presented here as single neurons; (2) only the most important, but not all, thermoeffector processes are shown; (3) the universal role of TRPM8 within the pathway for skin cooling is putative and has been challenged for some cold-defensive responses; (4) only 2 populations of primary sensory neurons are shown, while many others also exist.