Thermoregulation without top-down control
Prof. Otto Muzik and Prof. Vaibhav Diwadkar, two neuroscientists working at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine in Detroit/Michigan, are experts in investigating the correlates of thermoregulation in the human brain and body.
Then one day, their Ph.D. students told them about this crazy Dutch guy who seems to have almost superhuman capacities withstanding the cold – and it became pretty clear that they had to invite Wim to their lab to study his brain. Wim Hof underwent functional MRI and PET scans while he was exposed to mild hypothermia wearing a special cold suit.
The results of these experiments were very surprising…
Here, you will get a sneak preview of these findings that have not been published yet.
Listen to the interview, in which Dina was given the chance to ask the neuroscientists about what results were so unexpected and what exactly the set-up of this neuroimaging study was.
He does not have brown fat, so brown fat is really irrelevant in this case, …but actually what was interesting is that he had the greater uptake of FDG (Fluordesoxyglucose) in the muscles between his rips!
Otto Muzik and Vaibhav Diwadkar
Amazing revelation! Brown fat is not the mechanism. WHM is going to have some editing.
Is it possible to get the transcript of this interview?
Sorry, we are not able to provide transcripts at the moment…
I love this podcast, your most recent interview is fantastic, keep up the good work and I ‘ll keep geeking out on it 😉
Thanks so much!!!
Very interesting discussion. A question regarding BAT:
– was Wim BAT measured during the experiment to substantiate the “Wim does not have brown fat” sentence?
I recall another study, where BAT was measured in Wim and his brother and cold-induced thermogenesis thanks to BAT was recorded. I also think about the important coupling of time of cold exposure – cold temperature value with BAt activation.
Thanks
Excellent interview regarding the study and experimentation. It also suggests an explanation for the success a Canadian psychiatrist is having with some of his patients, in regulating their moods and behavior more effectively after immersing their heads in ice water for a few seconds. There is a lot of food for thought in these experimental results, as well a providing a really good explanation for what is happening in the human body with the WMH method. Thank you and good luck on your future research. For me this is really quite ground breaking in terms of implications for psychotherapy as well as for general health..
Very nice podcast. Looking forward to reading the paper!
Hello! Thank you so much for the podcast. This interview was particularly fascinating. Do you know if the studies have been published yet? If so, where can I find them?
Hi Jarrod, the study has been published here:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.067