Extreme hypothermia, where body temperature falls precipitously below normal, is a fatal condition for most mammals. Usually the first thing to fail is breathing, while the heart keeps on beating. However, without ventilation of the lungs, survival is brief. However, many neonatal mammals are remarkably tolerant of hypothermia, surviving for up to 2 hours at body temperatures of <10°C without breathing. I am interested in how this tolerance exists, how and why breathing stops in hypothermia, and how it spontaneously re-starts upon re-warming. So far, the results we have obtained suggest that it is the rhythm generator which fails in hypothermia, not the respiratory muscles themselves.

Publications
Tattersall, G. J. and Milsom, W. K. 2003. Hypothermia-induced respiratory arrest and recovery in neonatal rats. Respiration Physiology and Neurobiology. 137: 29-40.