Summary
In young guinea pigs the ascending pathways from the spinal thermosensitive region were studied by means of 1. microelectrode recording and 2. micro-electrocoagulation. In the first series of studies, impulse frequency was recorded from single units of the spinothalamic tract which responded to a temperature rise in the spinal segments C5-T2 with an increase of discharge frequency. At a spinal cord temperature of 38–39° C these units showed a firing rate of 1–5 imp./sec; local heating of the spinal cord (dT/dt=0.1° C/sec) to 40–41° C caused an increase in discharge frequency to 20–25 imp./sec. The mean static impulse frequency was 3 imp./sec at a spinal cord temperature of 39° C, and 10 imp./sec at a spinal cord temperature of 42.5° C.
In the second series of studies bilateral RF-coagulations were carried out in different sites of the diencephalon. These experiments showed that the ascending fibres from the spinal thermosensitive region connect the thermosensitive spinal region with a hypothalamic “temperature control centre”.
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Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Br. 184/10).
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Wünnenberg, W., Brück, K. Studies on the ascending pathways from the thermosensitive region of the spinal cord. Pflugers Arch. 321, 233–241 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00588444
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00588444