Ultrasound-Induced Hibernation-Like State Holds Promise for Space Travel and Beyond

Researchers have induced a torpor-like state in mice and rats using ultrasound to stimulate a brain region involved with regulating sleep, body temperature, and metabolism. The mice experienced a drop in body temperature of about 3 °C, a drop in heart rate of just over 47 percent, and metabolic changes, shifting from using both carbohydrates and fat as energy sources to just fat, resembling the shift they naturally make during torpor. The intensity of ultrasound also correlated with the depth of the torpor-like state. The researchers also induced a torpor-like state in rats, which do not naturally enter torpor.