Thermoregulation

• Thermoregulation is the control of our internal body temperature.
• The part of our brain that controls the process of thermoregulation is the hypothalamus.
• The mechanisms involved in warming us up and cooling us down include constricting blood vessels near the surface of the skin, contracting erector muscles, and shivering.
• Homeostasis refers to the process of maintaining a stable internal environment.
• One of the most important things our body has to regulate is our temperature, which has to be kept around 37 degrees Celsius all the time.
• The thermoregulatory sensor, a part of the hypothalamus within our brain, acts as a thermostat for our body.
• Receptors throughout our body, particularly in the skin and blood vessels, constantly send information about our temperature to the thermoregulatory sensor, enabling the brain to determine if we're too hot or too cold.
• To warm up, we conserve the heat that we have and generate more by constricting blood vessels near the surface of the skin, contracting erector muscles, and shivering.
• To cool down, we do the opposite by relaxing erector muscles, allowing hairs to fall flat and blood vessels to expand, producing sweat, and evaporating it.