thermoreception

Sensory capacity (see sense) to detect the temperature of the environment and the body.

It helps keep body temperature stable by regulating autonomic responses to temperature changes (see homeostasis). Temperature sensations are generated by separate heat and cold receptors (nerve endings) in the skin. Blood-sucking insects and some snakes (e.g., the pit viper) locate prey by its thermal radiation.

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▪ physiology

Introduction

 sensory process by which different levels of heat energy (temperatures (temperature)) in the environment and in the body are detected by animals (animal).

 Temperature has a profound influence upon living organisms. Animal life is normally feasible only within a narrow range of body temperatures, with the extremes extending from about 0–5 °C (32–41 °F) to about 40–45 °C (104–113 °F). In animals these boundaries are marked by the physical damage imposed by extreme temperatures. For example, living tissue incurs severe damage at low temperatures that cause water to freeze and at high temperatures that cause chemical instability, or denaturation, of proteins (protein).

      The following article discusses the influence of environment on thermoreception, the study and properties of thermoreceptors, and thermoreception in invertebrates (invertebrate) and vertebrates (vertebrate). For general information on sensory reception, see the article sensory reception (senses). For specific information on the other senses of animals, see the articles photoreception, chemoreception, and mechanoreception.

Environment and thermoreception

 Warm-blooded (warm-bloodedness) (or homeothermic) animals can maintain considerable inner physiological stability (e.g., body temperature and metabolism) under changing environmental conditions and are adaptable to substantial geographic and seasonal temperature fluctuations. For example, a polar bear can function both in a zoo during summer heat and on an ice floe in frigid Arctic waters. This kind of flexibility is supported by the function of specific sensory structures called thermoreceptors (or thermosensors) that enable an animal to detect thermal changes and to adjust accordingly.

 While warm-blooded animals maintain a stable body temperature, the body temperature of cold-blooded (cold-bloodedness) (or poikilothermic) animals, such as insects (insect), snakes (snake), and lizards (lizard), changes in direct relation to fluctuations in the temperature of the environment. Cold-blooded animals maintain safe body temperatures mainly by moving into locations of favourable temperature (e.g., shade or sunlight). Warm-blooded animals, including humans, are able to control their body temperature not only by moving into favourable environments but also by internally regulating heat production and heat loss through effects of the autonomic nervous system. Autonomic, or involuntary, adjustments depend on neural centres in the lower parts of the brainstem and the hypothalamus, whereas behavioral responses, such as moving into shade or into sunlight, involve the function of the upper parts of the brainstem and the cerebral cortex. A variety of behavioral responses are elicited through stimulation of thermoreceptors, including changes in body posture that help regulate heat loss and the huddling together of a group of animals in cold weather.

      In some species thermoreceptors are also involved in food location and sexual activities. Bloodsucking insects such as mosquitoes (mosquito) are attracted by thermal (heat) radiations of warm-blooded hosts; snakes such as pit vipers (viper) can locate warm prey at considerable distance by means of extremely sensitive receptors that are capable of detecting a broad spectrum of thermal radiation, including infrared and ultraviolet. Humans have achieved the widest range of adaptability to extremes in temperature; for example, culture and technology enable humans to protect themselves under a variety of thermal conditions.

      In humans and other animals temperature changes cause perceptions of thermal comfort and discomfort that motivate certain behaviours. Temperature changes also cause discriminative sensations that are important for tactual object recognition and environment exploration. Temperature perception in humans relies on a specific neural pathway that carries a linear representation of thermosensory activity to the cerebral cortex in the forebrain. This pathway evolved from the neural system responsible for the control of body temperature rather than from the system involved in touch perception.

Study of thermoreceptors

      The study of thermoreceptors began when minute areas of the skin were found to be selectively sensitive to hot and cold stimuli. In animals thermoreception can be studied in different ways—for example, through observations of behavioral responses to variations in temperature, through measurement of compensatory autonomic responses (e.g., sweating or panting) to thermal disturbances, and through recording electrical impulses generated in the nerve fibres of thermoreceptors. Early studies of thermoreception relied mainly on electrophysiological methods, which were introduced in 1936 for recording the electrical signals from single thermosensitive nerve fibres in the tongue of the CAT. These methods were applied to obtain similar recordings from single thermoreceptors in the skin of humans and other animals. Such investigations were made by dissecting single nerve fibres under the microscope and placing them on electrodes (electrode) or by inserting very fine wires (e.g., tungsten microelectrodes) directly into the intact nerve. The use of microelectrodes to record the electrical impulses of nerve fibres enabled researchers to characterize the properties of thermoreceptors, to examine the involuntary regulatory responses to temperatures that are not consciously perceived, and to identify the parts of the brain involved in sensations of temperature. In addition, the development of technologies such as positron emission tomography have enabled scientists to capture images of thermal responses, particularly in the human brain.

 Molecular studies of genes (gene) and proteins in cells (cell) involved in thermoreception have uncovered valuable information about the cellular mechanisms underlying whole organism response to thermal change. Studies of thermoreceptors at the molecular level have been facilitated by the identification of a superfamily of proteins involved in specific modalities of sensory reception. These proteins are generally known as transient receptor potential (TRP) channels (transient receptor potential channel), certain types of which are capable of detecting and responding to hot and cold. For example, channels known as TRPM (melastatin), TRPA (subfamily A), and TRPV (vanilloid) can respond to changes in temperature, with TRPM and TRPA known to respond to cold and TRPV known to respond to warmth, noxious heat, and protons (proton). TRPV channels have been identified on sensory neurons (neuron) and on epithelial cells, and TRPM channels are primarily expressed on C-fibres in peripheral nerves. The response of these proteins is manifested through their functions as ion channels, regulating the flow of ions, such as potassium, calcium, and sodium, into or out of sensory receptors. Ion flux can lead to cell membrane (cell) depolarization (less negative charge across the cell), which leads to an action potential—a brief electric polarization that results in a nerve impulse that is conveyed to the brain.

Properties of thermoreceptors

      The concept of thermoreceptors derives from studies of human sensory physiology, in particular from the discovery reported in 1882 that thermal sensations are associated with stimulation of localized sensory spots in the skin. Detailed investigations revealed a distinction between warm spots and cold spots—that is, specific places in the human skin that are selectively sensitive to warm or cool stimuli. In general, the specificity of thermoreceptors is quite narrow, in that their nerve endings are excited only, or primarily, by thermal stimuli. However, some thermoreceptors are polymodal, meaning they are capable of responding to both hot and cold stimuli, as well as to certain chemicals, such as capsaicin and menthol, that initiate sensations similar to hot and cold. Some types of cells, including Merkel cells, which are involved in touch reception, and cells on the tongue that are involved in taste, also respond to variations in temperature (although not linearly).

      In humans the dynamic relationship between thermoreceptors and other types of sensory receptors is complicated by the concept of conscious sensory specificity, which can differ from biochemical specificity. For example, a thermoreceptor that is excited by cooling and by the application of a chemical (e.g., menthol) might be classified only as a cold thermoreceptor in terms of conscious human sensation. However, biochemically, this receptor plays a role in chemoreception. Conscious sensation is unique in terms of the relationship between thermoreception and mechanoreception. Certain receptor cells in the skin of fishes (fish) and amphibians (amphibian) respond both to mechanical and to thermal stimulation. Similar to this, in the skin of cats, monkeys (monkey), and humans, certain receptors are excited both by mechanical stimuli and by cooling stimuli. However, these nerve endings are primarily slowly adapting mechanoreceptors that are sensitive to graded pressure on the skin, and their sensitivity to cooling is not linearly related to temperature. In fact, mechanoreceptor nerve fibres that are sensitive to cold have increased spontaneous discharge frequency in the presence of cold stimuli. This is probably responsible for the illusion that a cold metal object (e.g., a silver dollar) placed on the skin seems heavier than the same object at a warm temperature. This phenomenon, known as the silver Thaler illusion, was identified in the 1830s by German anatomist and physiologist Ernst Heinrich Weber (Weber, Ernst Heinrich). Today, it has been hypothesized that the presence of TRP channels in certain mechanoreceptors underlies the phenomenon of spontaneous cold sensitivity. Such molecular evidence has been crucial in improving the understanding of thermoreception and has led to new approaches in the classification of sensory receptors. For example, today receptors sensitive to temperature and other sensory stimuli are more likely to be classified based on genetic similarities and molecular function rather than on the chemical compounds they bind or the stimuli to which they respond.

 In general, the properties of thermoreceptors are similar among all species of animals. The electrical signals generated in the peripheral axons (axon) of thermoreceptors are brief, all-or-none impulses (action potentials) lasting about one millisecond. The frequency of impulses is affected by environment temperature and by exposure to changes in temperature. For example, at constant temperatures thermoreceptors are continuously active, with the frequency of the steady discharge (static response) depending on the temperature. Thermoreceptors primarily sensitive to cold have increased activity at temperatures cooler than the neutral skin temperature (about 34 °C [93 °F]), and thermoreceptors primarily sensitive to warmth have increased activity at temperatures warmer than neutral skin temperature. The sensitivity of thermoreceptors extends across a continuum of thresholds and response maxima. The static activity of many cold receptors reaches a maximum at temperatures around 20–30 °C (68–86 °F). Some thermoreceptors have lower thresholds (i.e., less than 30 °C [86 °F]) and maximal activity at colder temperatures (i.e., less than 20 °C [68 °F]). For example, a thermoresponsive ion channel known as TRPA1 (subfamily A, member 1) is activated by temperatures below 18 °C (64 °F), which are usually reported as painful. Warm receptors are continuously active at constant temperatures above neutral skin temperature and have response maxima around 41–46 °C (106–115 °F), although, in many cases, warm receptors are inactive at temperatures above 45 °C (113 °F).

      Cold receptors respond to sudden cooling with a transient increase in discharge frequency (called the dynamic response) that is directly related to the prior temperature and the magnitude and rate of the temperature decrease. If the cooler temperature is maintained, the discharge frequency adapts to a frequency of static discharge that is directly related to the cooler temperature. When the cold receptor is warmed again, a transient decrease, or inhibition, in discharge frequency occurs, after which the frequency rises again and finally adapts to a new static value. Warm receptors respond in a similar fashion to that of cold receptors, except that they show a dynamic response of increased discharge frequency to warming and a transient inhibition of discharge to cooling. Thus, thermoreceptors are selectively sensitive to specific ranges of temperature, to the rate and direction of temperature change, and to the final temperature. In addition, thermoreceptors are directly sensitive to the absolute temperature at the receptor rather than to the gradient of temperature change within the tissue. There is also evidence that one population of innocuous cool-sensitive thermoreceptors innervates the epidermis, while another population has receptive endings that are situated more deeply in the dermal skin layer.

Thermoreception in invertebrates (invertebrate)

 Insects (insect) placed on a surface that provides a temperature gradient (warmer at one end and cooler at the other) often congregate in a narrow band at a particular temperature, providing behavioral evidence of sensitive thermoreception. Honeybees (honeybee) (Apis mellifera) placed on such gradients normally choose a temperature range of 34 ± 2 °C (93 ± 3.6 °F). When repeatedly replaced at the warm end of the gradient, individual bees follow their average chosen temperature within ± 0.25 °C (± 0.45 °F). Bees also accurately regulate temperature in the hive between 35 and 36 °C (95 and 97 °F) by behavioral means (e.g., beating wings to circulate air) in the brood season. There is also evidence that honeybees adjust their thermal preference at night. Among invertebrates (invertebrate) other than arthropods (arthropod), the leech Hirudo medicinalis can make temperature discriminations with an accuracy of 1 °C (1.8 °F). The slug Agriolimax reticulatus reacts at temperatures (temperature) below 21 °C (70 °F) by increasing locomotor activity in response to 0.3 °C (0.5 °F) cooling over a period of five minutes.

 The temperature sensitivity of bloodsucking arthropods (arthropod) (e.g., lice (louse)) is considerably greater than that of nearly all other arthropods; the warmth of the victim's body is the primary influence in stimulating and guiding such blood feeders. The so-called castor-bean tick (Ixodes ricinus), which sucks blood from sheep, responds when its front legs, which are the primary site of thermal sensitivity, are warmed by 0.5 °C (0.9 °F). The bloodsucking assassin bug Rhodnius prolixus responds with direct movement toward any warm stimuli, which it detects using thermoreceptors on its antennae. Similarly, the mosquito Aedes aegypti, which can transmit yellow fever and dengue to humans, flies readily to a warm, odourless, inanimate surface as if it were that of a warm-blooded animal. These mosquitoes are sensitive to very subtle changes in air temperature, sometimes responding to thermal changes as small as 0.05 °C (0.09 °F).

      In most insects thermoreceptors appear to be located in the antennae. This is supported by evidence of impaired thermoreceptive behaviour in insects that have had part or all of their antennae removed. These behavioral studies have been supported by direct studies in which microelectrodes were inserted near the presumed thermosensitive cells in order to record electrical activity elicited by temperature stimuli. These combined methods have revealed valuable information on thermoreception in insects. For example, the cockroach Periplaneta americana has two whiplike antennae consisting of about 150–180 ring-shaped segments that grow thinner and longer with increasing distance from the insect's head. There are about 20 cold receptors per antenna. Each cold receptor consists of a delicate hairlike structure (sensillum) emerging from a ring-shaped wall. The cold sensilla are mechanically protected by large bristles covering the segments of the antenna. At constant temperatures the cold receptor is continuously active. When the receptor is rapidly cooled, its discharge frequency rises steeply and then declines gradually to a lower constant level; on rapid warming, the opposite response occurs.

 Caterpillars (caterpillar) of various moths (moth) in the families Lasiocampidae, Saturniidae, and Sphingidae have cold-sensing thermoreceptor cells in their antennae and mouthparts (maxillary palps). Microelectrode investigations suggest that just three receptor cells located in the third antennal segment and probably not more than one receptor cell in the maxillary palp are sensitive to cooling. At constant room temperatures these cells display static neural activity. This activity increases (i.e., an increase in impulse frequency) when the temperature is lowered. Rapid cooling causes a steep transient response, and rapid warming produces a temporary inhibition of discharge. Since only a few cells out of the 20 or 30 cells that comprise the thermoreceptor structure exhibit the typical electrical response to cooling, specific thermoreceptive function among caterpillars is indicated.

      There is also electrophysiological evidence for the presence of thermosensitive structures in the antennae of honeybees and of migratory locusts (locust) (Locusta migratoria migratorioides). Temperature-induced changes in the spontaneous electrical activity within the central nervous system of honeybees have also been recorded. Other sensory structures in these animals also can be influenced by temperature, but their primary functions appear to be chemoreceptive or mechanoreceptive.

      The results of these studies have led to further investigation of invertebrate thermoreceptors at the molecular level. Genetic studies of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans have identified cellular components that play critical roles in thermoreception. For example, thermosensation in these organisms appears to involve ion channels that rely on a nucleotide known as cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). There is also some indication that intracellular calcium signaling is involved in thermoreception, though the details remain poorly understood. In addition, heat-sensing TRP channels have been identified in the vinegar fly (or fruit fly), Drosophila.

Arthur D. Craig

Thermoreceptors in vertebrates (vertebrate)

fish

 Many species of modern bony fish (teleosts (teleost)) are sensitive to very small temperature changes of the water in which they live. Various marine teleosts such as the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua have been trained to swim half out of water up a long sloping trough in response to changes of as little as 0.03–0.07 °C (0.05–0.13 °F) in the temperature of the water flowing over them. Further studies have indicated that thermoregulation is particularly important in G. morhua, affecting many aspects of the fish's behaviour and physiology, including respiration.

      More-detailed conditioning experiments with freshwater fish show that they can distinguish warm from cold, with discrimination being made on the basis of thermal change rather than on absolute temperature. Temperature sensitivity persists in these animals when the nerve supplying the lateral line (lateral line system) is cut; however, temperature sensitivity is abolished after transection of the spinal cord. In some cases freshwater fish are capable of detecting temperature differences of less than 1 °C (1.8 °F). goldfish (Carassius auratus) have been trained to discriminate between warm and cold metal rods placed in their tanks. Consistent responses are obtained only when the rod is at least 2 °C (3.5 °F) colder or warmer than the water. Practically the whole surface of the fish, including the fins, is thermosensitive. This mode of temperature discrimination need not be ascribed to the function of specific thermoreceptors; it could depend on skin receptors that are sensitive to combined mechanical and thermal stimulation. Indeed, electrophysiological recordings from nerve fibres originating in the skin of fish support the latter view. Changes in the electrical activity of these fibres are elicited only when the skin is touched by some solid object; yet the frequency of this mechanically elicited neural discharge is heavily influenced by the temperature of the object used in touching the fish.

      Elasmobranchs, such as rays (ray) and sharks (shark), have distinctive sense organs, called ampullae of Lorenzini, that are highly sensitive to cooling. These organs consist of small capsules within the animal's head that have canals ending at the skin surface. The capsules and the canals are filled with a jellylike substance, and the sensory-receptor cells are situated within each capsule. Recordings of impulses from single nerve fibres supplying the ampullae of Lorenzini in the skate genus Raja and the dogfish genus Scyliorhinus reveal steady temperature-dependent activity of the receptors at constant temperatures between 0 and 30 °C (32 and 86 °F), the average frequency maximum appearing near 19 °C (66 °F). Rapid cooling causes transient increases in discharge frequency, whereas rapid warming produces transient discharge inhibition. Some single fibres respond to decreases in temperature of as little as 3 °C (5.5 °F). However, it remains unknown whether the ampullae of Lorenzini are to be called specific thermoreceptors, since they also respond to mechanical stimuli and to weak electrical currents.

      Researchers suspect there is a protein homologue of TRPV in fish. However, evolutionary investigations of thermoregulatory members of the TRP superfamily have indicated that these proteins differ significantly between mammals (mammal) and fish. Other than this, very little is known about the molecular details of thermoregulation in fish.

Reptiles (amphibian) and amphibians (reptile)

  Rattlesnakes (rattlesnake) and pit vipers (viper) in the subfamily Crotalinae have a pair of facial pits—sense organs on the head lying below and in front of the eyes that function as highly sensitive thermoreceptors. True boas (boa) in the family Boidae also have pits, though they are slightly different in structure from those of the crotalinids. The pit organs act as directional distance receptors and make it possible for the reptile to strike at warm prey. Each pit is a cavity about 1–5 mm (0.04–0.2 inches) deep, equally as wide at the bottom, and narrowing toward the opening at the surface of the head. Inside and separated from the bottom by a narrow air space is a densely innervated membrane of about 15 μm thickness stretching between the walls of the pit. A direct connection between the air space beneath the membrane and the open air maintains equal pressure on both sides of the membrane. Warm-sensitive receptors distributed over the membrane consist of treelike structures of bare (unmyelinated) nerve fibre endings. Radiation (heat energy) reaches the membrane from an external source through the narrow opening of the pit, permitting the snake not only to detect heat but also to localize coarsely the position of the stimulus. The fields of direction (cones of reception) from which each pit can receive radiation from the environment extend to the front and sides of the head, with a narrow zone of overlap in the middle.

      Under resting conditions, there is an irregular, steady discharge of nerve impulses from the pit organ. Infrared energy calculated to produce a change of as little as 0.003 °C (0.005 °F) at the nerve endings elicits a significant dynamic increase in impulse frequency; cooling produces an inhibition of the resting discharge. In contrast to the warmth receptors in mammals (mammal), the reptile's pit receptors are practically insensitive to steady temperatures, despite their high sensitivity to rate of thermal change. The distinctive consequence in the snake's adaptive behaviour is that gradual variations in air temperature tend to occur without detection; only the more rapid changes in radiation are discriminated. Sensitivity to rapid temperature changes is enhanced by the very limited heat capacity of the thin receptive membrane. When an animal that is 10 °C (18 °F) warmer than the environmental background appears for half a second at a distance of 40 cm (16 inches) in front of the snake, the heat energy radiated is enough to elevate the frequency of receptor discharge in the pit organ. Indeed, behavioral experiments show that under these conditions the snake is able to discover warm prey through the victim's heat radiations.

 As cold-blooded animals, reptiles have practically no internal metabolic mechanisms for maintaining their body temperature within physiologically safe limits. Nevertheless, reptiles, such as snakes and lizards (lizard), are able to keep their body temperature near these safe levels through behavioral regulation (i.e., by moving to cooler or warmer places as necessary). For example, through behavioral heating strategies the body temperature of the lizard Sceloporus magister was maintained at 34.9 ± 0.6 °C (94.8 ± 1.1 °F), although the average air temperature was 33 °C (91 °F). Information on behavioral thermal regulation has been recorded for the North American sidewinder, Crotalus cerastes; for example, in one study, the snake moved partially in and out of its burrow into the sun to maintain a body temperature of 31–32 °C (88–90 °F) over several hours. However, further studies discovered the ideal body temperature of C. cerastes to be about 30 °C (86 °F). The desert iguana, Dipsosaurus dorsalis, regulates its body temperature largely by behavioral mechanisms to achieve and hold body temperatures near 38.5 °C (101.3 °F). Thermal adjustments by iguanas include postural orientation to solar radiation both inside and outside burrows and altered thermal contact of the body surface with the soil.

      There is some electrophysiological evidence of thermal sensitivity among amphibians (amphibian); however, these organisms appear to respond only to relatively large temperature changes. The lateral-line organs in the platanna frog, Xenopus laevis, are sensitive to minute water turbulence but also respond to static temperatures and to temperature changes. However, it is not clear whether the lateral-line organ is important for thermoreception; it may function solely in rheotaxis (movement in response to currents in air or water).

 In the reptilian brain the hypothalamus appears to be the most important thermoregulatory structure, acting as a central processing station for thermal information received from internal and peripheral thermoreceptors. Molecular studies have identified the presence of heat-sensing TRPV channels in some reptiles, including frogs of the genus Xenopus, the estuarine (saltwater) crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) the scincid lizard Pseudemoia entrecasteauxii, and the jacky lizard, Amphibolurus muricatus. In addition, a cool-sensing TRPM channel has been identified in C. porosus. In this crocodile, TRPV and TRPM are expressed in muscle, liver, and heart tissues. Investigations exploring the reptilian pineal gland, which controls melatonin secretion, have revealed the complexity of thermoregulation in reptiles. For example, melatonin levels are known to affect body temperature selection in reptiles. Studies into the existence of TRP channels and other cellular thermoreception mechanisms in amphibians are ongoing.

Herbert Hensel

Birds (bird)

 Most birds are homeothermic, normally maintaining their body temperature within a range of less than 1 °C (1.8 °F) by active metabolic means. However, some small birds are heterothermic, in that they allow their nocturnal body temperature to drop by as much as 10 °C (18 °F). In birds severe cooling induces shivering in particular muscles and causes cardiovascular and metabolic changes. In fact, there is little evidence of nonshivering thermogenesis (metabolic heat production) in adult birds, since birds do not have the heat-generating brown adipose (adipose cell) tissue found in mammals.

      Studies in the pigeon Columba livia have indicated that peripheral thermoreceptors mediate responses to cold. When C. livia was exposed to decreasing temperatures, dropping from 28 to −10 °C (82 to 14 °F), the animal's core body and spinal cord temperatures increased, while its leg, neck, and back skin temperatures decreased. Furthermore, different skin areas of birds appear to have varying thermosensitivity. For example, in pigeons skin on the back is more sensitive to the detection of warmth than skin on the wings and breast. In addition, nonfeathered skin areas, such as the legs and feet, have little sensitivity to cold or warm stimuli. Many species of birds have a high degree of cold sensitivity, and thus, these species migrate to warm climates for the winter. In contrast, species that are cold-tolerant may migrate to avoid climates that become too warm. Many cold-tolerant birds adjust their basal metabolic rates to avoid hypothermy.

      Investigations of thermoreception and thermoregulation in birds indicate that thermosensors exist not only in the skin on the body but also in the skin around the face, the thoracic brood patch (the area used for egg incubation), and the beak. Thermoreceptors also exist in the spinal cord and brainstem (though apparently not in the hypothalamus). Early studies employing microelectrodes provided evidence of cold-sensitive thermoreceptors in the tongues of chickens (chicken). Later molecular studies confirmed the presence of both cold-sensing TRPM channels and heat-sensing TRPV channels in the chicken Gallus gallus. As indicated above, there is electrophysiological evidence of cold and warm thermoreceptors in the skin of pigeons (pigeon). There is also evidence that cold and warm thermoreceptors are present in the beaks of geese (goose) and ducks (duck); some of these receptors may also be mechanoreceptive. There is direct physiological and behavioral evidence for thermoreceptors in the brood patch of hens. Such thermoreceptors are important for controlling incubating behaviour and for regulating blood flow in the brood patch. For example, in response to the temperature of the eggs, hens remain on the eggs for an appropriate length of time, and, by regulating blood flow, they can maintain the temperature of their brood patch, keeping this region warm and optimizing the development of the embryos (embryo) in the incubating eggs. It is particularly striking that hens have impaired or absent incubation behaviour when the nerves to the brood patch have been cut; this suggests a critical role for thermoreceptors in incubation behaviour.

      Megapodes (megapode), large-footed birds such as the Australian mallee fowl (genus Leipoa) and the brush turkey, have unique incubation behaviour that appears to rely heavily on thermoreception. They bury their eggs in mounds where heat is generated through the fermentation of rotting vegetation and by irradiation from the Sun. In order to keep the temperature of the eggs almost constant at 32–34 °C (90–93 °F) over the long incubation period (from 60 to 90 days), they repeatedly cover and uncover the eggs by moving the compost around the eggs with their mouths. This behaviour depends on thermoreceptors in and around their mouths and face to guide the success of their efforts.

Mammals (mammal)

Thermoreceptive elements

 Mammals have thermoreceptive elements sensitive to warming or cooling within their brains, particularly in the spinal cord and the hypothalamus, a region at the base of the forebrain. Physiological investigations of peripheral nerve fibres and of neurons (neuron) in the spinal cord and forebrain in mammals have provided information on the characteristics of thermoreceptive activity. In addition, molecular studies of mammalian cells (cell) have revealed the existence of several different thermoreceptor proteins, including TRPM and TRPV channels.

      The cold and warm thermoreceptors of mammals show dynamic as well as static excitatory or inhibitory discharge responses. These responses represent the magnitude and rate of change of cold and warm stimuli. The thermoreceptors have spotlike receptive fields in the skin, and cold receptors are more numerous than warm receptors in the skin. Warm receptors are found primarily in deep tissues (e.g., muscle and viscera). Skin thermoreceptors are concentrated in orofacial regions around the mouth, tongue, nose, lips, eyes (eye, human), and ears (ear, human), as well as in regions on the hands and feet (paws in quadrupeds). While both cold and warm receptors are innervated by unmyelinated C-fibres that conduct discharge activity very slowly, cold receptors are predominantly served by thinly myelinated A-fibres that conduct impulses more rapidly than C-fibres. (Thus, a blockade of peripheral nerve conduction by maintained pressure will first interrupt touch, then cold, then finally sensations of warmth and pain, whereas blockade with a local anesthetic agent such as lidocaine will interrupt these sensations in the reverse order.) Thermoreceptors are infrequently excited by mechanical deformation of the skin. However, some mechanoreceptors are sensitive to thermal changes. In addition, certain heat-sensing thermoreceptors are sensitive to painful stimuli and thus have a dual function as nociceptors (pain receptors).

Thermoreceptors and pain reception

      Histological analyses indicate that a cold-sensitive spot is innervated by a thin, myelinated nerve fibre that penetrates the dermis and divides into several unmyelinated branches about 70 μm beneath the skin surface. The tips of these branches are embedded in small concavities on the lower surface of the basal cells of the epidermis. Cold receptors can also be paradoxically activated by skin temperatures above 45 °C (113 °F), which corresponds to the brief sensation of cold that humans report when a hot object is touched or when the hand is put into hot water. In contrast, the sharp biting sensation elicited by touching an object at deep cold temperatures (such as Dry Ice) is due to the abrupt activation of nociceptors by rapid ice crystal formation in the skin. A slow, painful burning sensation is experienced when touching cool and warm bars (at 20 °C [68 °F] and 40 °C [104 °F]) that are spatially interlaced; this so-called “thermal grill illusion” mimics the burning sensation associated with painful cold (usually reported at temperatures below 15 °C [59 °F]). The thermal grill demonstrates that there is a central neural mechanism for the cold inhibition of pain. The cold bars in the grill (below 20 °C [68 °F]) activate polymodal (responding to different types of sensory stimulation) C-fibre nociceptors that are responsible for the burning feeling of cold pain. The simultaneous warm and cool temperatures summate in the brain to reduce normal thermoreceptive activity, and this reduction unmasks (disinhibits) the cold-evoked polymodal nociceptive activity that is normally inhibited centrally by the thermoreceptive activity.

      Cold or warm packs are used therapeutically to reduce pain, and the thermal grill illusion shows that these thermal stimuli have a central—not just peripheral—interaction with pain sensation. The central integration of thermosensory and pain activity in the brain is important for the thermoregulatory control of blood flow to the skin and deep tissues. The association of the central neural mechanisms controlling the thermoregulation of blood flow and pain explains the intense burning experienced when lukewarm water is applied to feet that are numb from cold.

Neural thermoreceptive pathways

 The processing of thermoreceptive information in the central nervous system of mammals begins in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, where specialized neurons receive convergent input selectively from cold or warm thermoreceptors. Both warm- and cool-sensitive cells summate input from a large number of peripheral thermoreceptors over broad areas of skin. This summation is fundamental for overcoming ambiguous temperature responses received from individual thermoreceptors.

      Cool-sensitive neurons in the spinal cord have ongoing discharge activity at normal skin temperature (34 °C [93 °F]). This activity is inhibited by warming but is stimulated by cooling, increasing in a linear fashion as temperature drops. At about 15 °C (59 °F) discharge activity becomes relatively constant and stays constant even as temperatures fall below this. In an inverse manner warm-sensitive spinal neurons have ongoing discharge that is inhibited by cooling. These neurons are stimulated by warming, increasing their activity linearly as temperature increases to about 45 °C (113 °F), at which point their activity plateaus. Thermoreceptive spinal neurons are specific. Thus, their activity closely reflects the activity of the peripheral thermoreceptors, and their response patterns parallel human temperature perceptions. In contrast, other spinal neurons show mechanical and weak thermal sensitivity, because they receive input from the thermally sensitive, slowly adapting mechanoreceptors in the skin.

      Spinal thermoreceptive neurons send their activity to regions in the brainstem, where they affect the autonomic control of blood flow and respiration, or to the forebrain, where their activity leads to sensation. The cells that project to the forebrain send their axons (axon) up the spinal cord on the opposite side of the body in the so-called “lateral spinothalamic tract.” Humans or other animals experiencing certain types of pain may undergo a rare surgical procedure known as percutaneous cordotomy, which interrupts the lateral spinothalamic tract, thereby reducing pain. This interruption, as a rule, eliminates temperature sensation in mammals (along with pain, itch, and touch sensation, though a neuropathic pain condition may emerge later). In monkeys and humans this spinal thermoreceptive pathway extends upward along the spinal cord, eventually reaching a compact set of neurons that are part of a sensory processing structure known as the thalamus, which is located in the middle of the forebrain.

      The neurons in the thalamus that receive input from the thermoreceptive-specific pathway also show selective thermoreceptive properties, and they are organized in a three-dimensional (topographic) map of the body. Microstimulation with fine electrodes in the thalamus can be performed during neurosurgical procedures for movement disorders. In these procedures patients are awake, and if the microelectrode is positioned inferior and posterior to the main somatosensory nucleus, microstimulation elicits immediate patient descriptions of discrete cooling, warming, or pain sensations localized to a particular part of the body. The thermoreceptive-specific neurons in the thalamus relay activity to a dedicated site in the cerebral cortex. Research has indicated that the specific receiving site is in the superior margin of the posterior insular cortex on the side of the brain contralateral to the body area represented. Functional imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) has confirmed that activation of this area of the cortex of the human brain is directly correlated with the sensation of skin temperature (either cool or warm). Damage to the cortex in humans may affect temperature sensation, though sensation can return.

      It is important to recognize that the sensory region in the cortex of primates (primate) is part of a larger area that represents all aspects of the physiological condition of the body. This cortical area modulates the activity of regulatory regions in the brainstem and hypothalamus that maintain the health of the body, that is, regions involved in the process known as homeostasis. The organization of the thermosensory system in the brain indicates that the discriminative thermosensory capacity of humans has evolved as one aspect of the enormous encephalization that has produced a direct sense of the physiological condition of the body.

Behaviour and thermoregulation

 The high degree of development of the sense of temperature in mammals provides them with the capacity to use temperature information not only as a signal of the condition of the body but also as a sense useful for recognizing objects and exploring the environment. For example, comparative experiments show that the nocturnal owl monkey (durukuli), Aotus nancymaae, has a highly developed, specialized neural pathway for thermal sensation near and inside its nose. This pathway probably has enormous survival value by enabling these animals to determine the temperature (or freshness) of scent markings on their arboreal trails in the darkness of their native rainforest habitat in Colombia. Cats (CAT) have a similar but rudimentary thermoreceptive-specific pathway in their forebrains, and they can be trained to respond behaviorally to thermal stimulation (e.g., by pressing a bar or choosing a door to open). Such experiments reveal that cats are relatively incapable of discriminating warm and cold stimuli applied to the furred skin of the trunk or the legs. However, they are sensitive on their noses and paws, responding to temperature differences of several degrees. This response corresponds to the level of thermal sensitivity on the face of humans and also accords with neurophysiological evidence regarding the properties of peripheral thermoreceptors and central thermoreceptive neurons in cats. Damage to the thermoreceptive pathway at the level of the thalamus or cortex in cats transiently reduces their ability to respond behaviorally to thermal stimuli; in contrast, similar damage in humans causes thermanesthesia (inability to feel hot or cold). This observation indicates that the integrative (homeostatic) processing of thermoreceptive activity in the brainstem is sufficient to motivate a cat's behaviour.

      In humans thermosensory activity causes emotional (affective) experiences of thermal comfort and discomfort. Such emotions motivate behaviour, and this enhances survival since these behaviours help maintain an optimal core body temperature, which is the goal of the internal homeostatic process known as thermoregulation. Temperature sensations in humans provide a measure of the activity of warm and cold receptors in the skin; however, thermal comfort or discomfort reflects the general state of the thermoregulatory system, involving signals not only from thermoreceptors in the skin but also from the integrative centres in the brainstem and other regions. Thus, the same temperature at the skin can be experienced as comfortable or uncomfortable, depending on the thermal condition of the person's whole body. For example, if one is overheated, cold is perceived as pleasant, but if the core body temperature is low, and one feels generally chilled, then the same cold stimulus is distinctly unpleasant.

      The evolutionary role of thermoreception is to subserve the process of thermoregulation. Thermoregulatory responses, such as shivering or panting, can be initiated by local temperature changes in the spinal cord or hypothalamus, and physiological experiments using microelectrode recordings from neurons in these regions also indicate that these thermoreceptive elements are directly involved in thermoregulation. In contrast to reptiles (reptile) and fish, which are cold-blooded (poikilothermic) and regulate their body temperature mainly behaviorally, mammals are warm-blooded (endothermic) and maintain a constant body temperature (homeothermic) using active neural, physiological, and behavioral processes. Signals from thermosensors in the hypothalamus, spinal cord, deep body tissues, and skin are integrated in multiple thermoregulatory centres located mainly in the mammalian brainstem and hypothalamus. The temperatures of the inner body (core) and the peripheral skin (shell) are integrated with other systemic information, such as the water and salt content of the body, the level of available energy stores, and cardiovascular and immune system function. Such information serves to activate internal physiological and behavioral mechanisms that maintain body temperature within the normal range of values. These internal mechanisms include regulating the relative blood flow to skin and deep tissues, the release of metabolic activators (such as cortisol), and thermogenesis by brown adipose (adipose cell) tissue.

      When signals from warm thermoreceptors prevail over signals from cold thermoreceptors, heat-loss mechanisms, such as sweating, panting, and widening of blood vessels (blood vessel) (vasodilation) in the skin, act to reduce body temperature. Cool-seeking behaviours are motivated by emotions of thermal discomfort. When signals from cold receptors predominate, heat conservation and production mechanisms are initiated. Thus, muscles expend energy in shivering and through other metabolic reactions (nonshivering thermogenesis), cutaneous blood vessels narrow (vasoconstriction), hairs fluff out to enhance thermal insulation, and appropriate warm-seeking behaviours are stimulated. Intervening elements in the nervous system (e.g., in the medulla oblongata) have been identified that integrate thermoregulatory signals from the hypothalamus and provide output links to produce changes in vascular tone or in the activity of brown adipose tissue. All these autonomic, or involuntary, regulatory functions continue even without the involvement of the cerebral cortex; thus, they do not require consciousness and persist during sleep and, to a limited extent, during anesthesia.

Arthur D. Craig

Additional Reading

A work providing details on the many facets of thermoreception and thermoregulation in animals is Claus Jessen, Temperature Regulation in Humans and Other Animals (2001). The anatomy and physiology of the neural pathways involved in thermoreception are covered in Larry R. Squire, Fundamental Neuroscience, 3rd ed. (2008). Ion channels and their roles in sensory reception, including thermoreception, are discussed in Boris Martinac, Sensing with Ion Channels (2008).Kara Rogers

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