Knowra Shivering Shivering Shivering is involuntary, rhythmic muscle activity that generates heat, usually in response to cold or fever. It raises metabolic heat production without deliberate movement.
Thermoregulation : The physiological control of body temperature through heat production, retention, and loss. Shivering is one of the body's rapid responses when temperature regulation detects cold.
Core body temperature : The temperature of the body's internal tissues and organs, distinct from skin temperature. A fall in core temperature can activate shivering even when the skin is not uniformly cold.
Hypothermia : A condition in which core body temperature falls below the range needed for normal physiological function. Shivering is an early heat-producing response to cold, but may weaken as hypothermia worsens.
Non-shivering thermogenesis : Heat production that does not rely on visible muscle shivering, especially through brown adipose tissue. It generates heat through metabolic processes rather than rhythmic skeletal-muscle contractions.
Hypothalamus : A brain region that regulates homeostasis, including body temperature, hunger, and hormonal activity. Its thermoregulatory circuits help trigger shivering when core temperature falls.
Thermoreceptor : A sensory receptor that detects temperature changes in the body or its environment. Thermoreceptors provide the temperature information that helps initiate shivering.
Fever : A regulated rise in body temperature caused by an increased hypothalamic temperature set point. The raised set point can provoke shivering while body temperature is climbing.
Chills : A subjective sensation of cold that may occur with or without visible shaking. Chills describe the feeling that can accompany shivering, not the muscle activity itself.
Brown adipose tissue : Heat-producing fat tissue whose mitochondria generate heat by uncoupling fuel oxidation from ATP production. It provides non-shivering heat production, an alternative that can reduce reliance on muscle contractions.
Set point : A regulated target value that a physiological control system tends to maintain. During fever, the elevated temperature set point can make the current body temperature feel too low.
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