ABSTRACT

Passive hyperthermia models provide researchers with the opportunity to look at the effects that increase body temperature on cognitive function without all of the confounding effects of exercise. While passive hyperthermia will change physiological variables other than just core body temperature, the magnitude of these other disturbances is likely to be lower than if exercise is used. Increased arousal has been linked to improvements in cognitive function in cooler conditions and it is possible that this is due to the small increases in core body temperature that are observed during exercise in cooler conditions. Impaired cognitive performance at higher core body temperatures may be caused by a reduction in cortical activity and an inhibition of output intensity from the prefrontal cortex. The impairment in cognitive function overserved when core body temperature is high does not appear to be related to reductions in cerebral blood flow or substrate delivery but may be linked to cortisol concentrations.