Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29383253›Full record

ArticleConservation physiology2017

Body water conservation through selective brain cooling by the carotid rete: a physiological feature for surviving climate change?

W Maartin Strauss, Robyn S Hetem, Duncan Mitchell, Shane K Maloney, Haley D O'Brien, Leith C R Meyer, Andrea Fuller

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Conservation physiology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Revised concept of rete-like collateral formation:Interventional neuroradiology : journal of peritherapeutic neuroradiology, surgical procedures and related neurosciences · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. The rete mirabile: a possible control site for swimbladder function.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2023
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Ultradian oscillations in brain temperature in sheep: implications for thermoregulatory control?Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2020
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. How does homeostasis happen? Integrative physiological, systems biological, and evolutionary perspectives.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2019
    Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

W Maartin StraussBrain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, Faculty of Heath Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa.
Robyn S HetemBrain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, Faculty of Heath Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa.
Duncan MitchellBrain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, Faculty of Heath Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa.
Shane K MaloneyBrain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, Faculty of Heath Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa.
Haley D O'BrienDepartment of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Oklahoma, OK 74107, USA.
Leith C R MeyerBrain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, Faculty of Heath Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa.
Andrea FullerBrain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, Faculty of Heath Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa.
University of the Witwatersrand · ZAOklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences · USUniversity of Pretoria · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Some mammals have the ability to lower their hypothalamic temperature below that of carotid arterial blood temperature, a process termed selective brain cooling. Although the requisite anatomical structure that facilitates this physiological process, the carotid rete, is present in members of the Cetartiodactyla, Felidae and Canidae, the carotid rete is particularly well developed in the artiodactyls, e.g. antelopes, cattle, sheep and goats. First described in the domestic cat, the seemingly obvious function initially attributed to selective brain cooling was that of protecting the brain from thermal damage. However, hyperthermia is not a prerequisite for selective brain cooling, and selective brain cooling can be exhibited at all times of the day, even when carotid arterial blood temperature is relatively low. More recently, it has been shown that selective brain cooling functions primarily as a water-conservation mechanism, allowing artiodactyls to save more than half of their daily water requirements. Here, we argue that the evolutionary success of the artiodactyls may, in part, be attributed to the evolution of the carotid rete and the resulting ability to conserve body water during past environmental conditions, and we suggest that this group of mammals may therefore have a selective advantage in the hotter and drier conditions associated with current anthropogenic climate change. A better understanding of how selective brain cooling provides physiological plasticity to mammals in changing environments will improve our ability to predict their responses and to implement appropriate conservation measures.

Indexed as

Artiodactyl successbrain temperaturecarotid arterial blood temperatureosmoregulationphysiological plasticityrostral epidural rete mirabile

Identifiers

PMID29383253
PMCPMC5778374
OpenAlexW2588535348

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.