When animals go into hibernation to ride out the colder months, their metabolism slows, their heartbeats lower, and their temperatures go down. For some animals, that temperature drop is substantial. The most notable is the Arctic ground squirrel, whose normal temperature of around 99 degrees Fahrenheit can go as low as 27 degrees Fahrenheit! While humans don’t take part in this winter pastime - though sun-lovers may wish they could - science may be finding ways to induce the process in humans to help during medical emergencies.

A study recently published in Current Biology explains how we may be able to mimic the process of lowering body temperature in non-hibernating animals. If successful, it could limit tissue damage in patients experiencing serious health episodes like brain injuries, heart attacks, or strokes.

Dr. Domenico Tupone, the study’s senior author and research assistant professor of neurological surgery at Oregon Health & Science University’s School of Medicine, explains, “The idea is to reduce the body temperature to a lower level so that tissues like the brain or heart don't need as much oxygen, allowing them to survive the ischemia [lack of oxygen to tissues] longer and improve the functional outcomes of strokes or heart attacks.”

This would work by trying to induce therapeutic hypothermia. Usually when animals are cold, their bodies warm up through shivering or burning adipose tissue, also known as brown fat. However, the body does the opposite during hibernation, lowering temperatures in response to cold weather. This process is called thermoregulatory inversion, or TI.

The researchers found that TI could be mimicked in rats by blocking the ventromedial periventricular area of the brain, which warms up in the usual way when its processes aren’t impeded.

In addition to helping with emergency medical situations, the researchers hope controlled TI could also sustain patients during long surgeries or treat metabolic diseases. Hibernation as a means to treat health conditions has been the focus of other research, as well, including how understanding the insulin resistance of hibernating bears could help with diabetes management.

This is just another way that a healthy natural world can help with important medical discoveries for people.

Some hibernating animals take advantage of trees and their roots for their winter dens. If you’d like to help plant a few, click here!