Hibernation for humans? Here's why you'll want it too

What if you could temporarily pause your life? Where during that break, you wouldn't age a minute, could lie in bed for months without losing an ounce of muscle, and also be protected from dangerous radiation and scary viruses. Sound unreal? Yet that is exactly what happens to animals during hibernation. Hibernating animals can cool themselves to near freezing and virtually stop their heartbeat, with no damage and many benefits. How these animals exactly do this is still a great mystery to scientists. Biologist Roelof Hut of the University of Groningen is trying to unravel the mechanism behind hibernation. If successful, it could have countless applications for humans.
Want more in-depth information about the research? Below are publications about the hibernation research:
► Strijkstra AM, Hut RA, Van der Zee EA, Daan S (2000) Torpor impairs hippocampal neuronal connectivity in hibernating European ground squirrels. In: Life in the Cold. Exner C, Heldmaier G, Klingenspor M (eds.):115-116.
► Hut RA, Barnes BM, Daan S (2002) Body temperature patterns before, during, and after semi‑natural hibernation in the European ground squirrel. Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology 172: 47‑58
► Hut RA, Van der Zee EA, Jansen K, Gerkema MP, Daan S (2002) Gradual reappearance of post‑hibernation circadian rhythmicity correlates with numbers of vasopressin containing neurons in the suprachiasmatic nuclei of European ground squirrels. Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology 172: 59‑70
► Henning RH, Deelman LE, Hut RA, Van der Zee EA, Buikema H, Nelemans SA, De Zeeuw D, Daan S, Epema AH (2002) Normalization of aortic function during arousal in the European ground squirrel. Life Sciences 70:2071-2083. DOI10.1016/S0024-3205(02)01505-9
► Strijkstra AM, Hut RA, De Wilde M, Stieler J, Van der Zee EA (2003) Hippocampal synaptophysin immunoreactivity is reduced during natural hypothermia in ground squirrels. Neuroscience Letters 344:29-32. DOI10.1016/S0304-3940(03)00399-9
► Arendt T, Stieler J, Strijkstra AM, Hut RA, Van der Zee EA, Harkany T, Härtig W (2003) Reversible PHF-like phosphorylation of tau is an adaptive process associated with neuronal plasticity in hibernating animals. Journal of Neuroscience 23:6972-6981. DOI10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-18-06972.2003
► Highlighted in Journal of Neuroscience ‘This week in the journal’ (2003) 23(18), in Nature ‘News and Views’ (2003) 424:898, and recommended in the ‘Faculty of 1000’ commentary.
► Sandovici M, Henning RH, Hut RA, Strijkstra AM, Epema AH, Van Goor H, Deelman LE (2004) Differential regulation of glomerular and interstitial endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression in the kidney of hibernating ground squirrel. Nitric Oxide-Biology and Biochemstry 11: 194-200. DOI10.1016/j.niox.2004.08.002
► Van der Zee EA, Stieler J, Hut RA, De Wilde M, Strijkstra AM (2004) Alterations in localisation of hippocampal protein kinase Cg (PKCg), but not PKCa, -B1, or -B2, in European ground squirrels during hibernation. In: Life in the Cold, Evolution, Mechanisms, Adaptation, and Application. Barnes BM and Carey HV (eds.):441-450.
► Arendt T, Stieler J, Strijkstra AM, Hut RA, Van der Zee EA, Holzer M, Härtig W (2004) Hibernation in mammals: a model for Alzheimer-type phosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau. In: Life in the Cold, Evolution, Mechanisms, Adaptation, and Application. Barnes BM and Carey HV (eds.):497-508.
► Ruediger J, Van der Zee EA, Aschoff A, Daan S, Hut RA (2007) Changes in synaptic ultrastructure in the frontal cortex of the European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) in the course of torpor-arousal cycles. Synapse 61:343-352. DOI10.1002/syn.20380
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