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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2000;284:1915.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Studies that reveal how hibernating ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) experience extreme cold and rapid temperature changes without harm to the nervous system could help researchers understand the effects of hypothermia and provide clues to developing safe ways to freeze cells and tissues (Nature. 2000;407:317-318).

At the beginning of winter, an adult ground squirrel was placed in a 4°C (39°F) cold room where it entered hibernation, allowing medical researchers to study how it endured extreme cold without ill effects.

During hibernation, a ground squirrel's body temperature drops nearly to freezing, but it rewarms to normal during brief periods of wakefulness. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found that when the hibernating squirrel's body temperature plummets, lipids and proteins in the internal cell membrane of neurons and glia rearrange themselves in ways that preserve cell function.

Some of the proteins essential to cell function normally . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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