From the foregoing review it is clear that our understanding of the neural control of body temperature has been clarified from research over the past ten years. Overall, ascending thermal inputs are integrated with other thermal and nonthermal inputs resulting in efferent signals of appropriate spatial and temporal characteristics necessary for driving effector organs involved in thermal homeostasis. The control of thermoregulatory motor outputs is multifaceted and exhibits proportional, rate-sensitive, and/or on-off regulatory patterns during thermal stimulation. These complex motor patterns indicate the presence of extensive temporal and spatial integration of ascending thermal information. This is supported by the fact that the pattern of efferent nerve activity in various motor systems (e.g. vasomotor) is vastly different from recordings of primary thermoreceptor activity.