If , in the deepness of winter , when the night soak up in and thetemperature dropsall the way down to “ screw this ” degrees , you ’ve ever find yourself question why humans ca n’t justmake like so many chomnky bearsand spend the whole time of year cuddle up in bottom , then believe us : you’re not alone . So , a new result bring out today might be just the pick - me - up you postulate next meter you witness yourself arrive at for a sweater .

By pelting rodent ’ capitulum with echography pulses – a subprogram that is not as traumatic as it sounds , we call – scientist from Washington University in St. Louis have managed to hasten a two-sided hibernation - alike body politic in shiner and dirty dog known as torpor , marking what may be a major step towards potential human applications in future tense .

Dubbed “ echography - cause hypothermia ” , or UIH , the engineering “ represent a significant technical progress in evoking artificial torpor , ” according to a video recording from the team which accompanies the subject area .

But despite this leap fore , there ’s still a small ingredient of mystery to the breakthrough . For many reasons , “ echography [ is ] a bright engineering science for neuromodulation in small animals , non - human primates and humanity , ” the authors take note – it ’s the only energy form strong enough to penetrate the skull without ionizing radiotherapy and target brain areas with millimeter preciseness , for representative , as well as being portable , safe , and relatively cheap .

There ’s just one problem , really : until now , we have n’t exactly understood how it exploit – or , as the investigator put it in more scientific term , “ its mechanism stay elusive . ”

With the Modern study , however , we ’ve gained a great deal of brainstorm . The technique works by point ultrasonic pulses at a region of the brain known as the preoptic surface area , or POA , resulting in the activation of neuron that trigger features of torpor such as reduce metabolic charge per unit and trunk temperature . The upshot was almost instant : after a 10 - second blast with ultrasonic heartbeat , computer mouse experience decreased heart body process , lowly O usance , a switch from refined sugar to fat metabolic process , and changes in body temperature that suggested active heating system dumping – all features of by nature - occurring listlessness .

At first , this irregular torpor did n’t last longer than a brace of hours – just a big cat ( or mouse ) nap , really . But the team had another trick up their sleeve : they evolve a unopen - grummet feedback controller that could automatically activate the supersonic beams whenever the mouse ’s eubstance temperatures arise above 34 ° C ( 93.2 ° degree Fahrenheit ) – the limen for natural torpor in the metal money .

With this slap-up little addition , the researchers were able to keep the black eye in their torpor - like land for up to 24 hour – all without any signs of price or discomfort . Altogether , the technique “ reveals the great potential of ultrasonography - head interfacing technology for noninvasive , exact generalization of UIH , ” the study reports .

But there ’s another , even more tantalizing , contingent to the discipline . Not only did the investigator manage to make a torpor - like state in mice , but they were also able to procreate the upshot in 12 rats – a species which does n’t naturally hibernate at all .

It ’s a result that raise some challenging possibilities . If torpor can be induced in betrayer , could this technique be successful in humans , too ? There are muckle of reasons why we ’d need to try it – and not just as an exculpation for more duvet days in winter .

“ The conception of inducing torpor - like hypothermia and hypometabolism by hokey means was ab initio proposed in 1960 [ … ] to reduce vigor consumption during long - term human spacefaring , ” head out the researcher . “ Torpor - alike hypothermia and hypometabolism could also increase the survival chance of patients under life sentence - imperil conditions [ … ] by slow up metabolic process and disease progression . ”

So far , though , the engineering science to do it – at least , in a noninvasive and good way – has eluded us . With the development of their unexampled technique , therefore , the researcher at Washington University and their sleepy rodent pals may have broken through a barrier not just in biology , but in physics and technology too .

“ Asultrasoundneuromodulation has already been demonstrated to be feasible in human being , UIH has first-class promise for translating to humans , ” the researchers close . “ UIH may unlock coating wander from unexampled medical handling to farseeing - duration human spaceflight . ”

The study is published in the journalNature Metabolism .