Preface -- In the beginning -- Evolution and the control of body temperatures as a mechanism for survival -- The mechanics of our environmental independence: building circuits and chemicals in the brain -- More about the brain and temperature -- What's so important about a body temperature of 37dc? -- From Siberia to Africa: understanding the extremes -- The burning brain -- Fever, survival, and death -- Temperature and the struggle for life -- The brain is the body: a unitary perspective on thermoregulation
Summary
"The book first traces the story of the brain throughout evolution and shows how the control of body temperature as a survival mechanism was achieved. It then goes on to discuss the mechanisms of our environmental independence, why a body temperature of 37[degrees]C (only five degrees from death) is essential for humans, and how this narrow temperature range is defended. It describes how we cope with environmental extremes, the function of fevers, and why thermoregulation is best understood through a combination of physiological and cognitive approaches."--Jacket
Notes
"A Bradford book."
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-263) and index
