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Dependence of mechanoreceptor activity on skin temperature in sauropsids

I. Caiman

  • Published:
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Summary

  1. 1.

    Mechanoreceptors in the trigeminal area of caimans have been studied with regard to their temperature sensitivity by recording single unit activity from the mandibular nerve.

  2. 2.

    Many mechanoreceptors could be transiently excited by sudden cooling with cold water. The response increased linearly between 20 ° and 0 °C with decreasing water temperature.

  3. 3.

    The response to a standard mechanical stimulus has been studied at different skin temperatures in the range from 0 ° to 50 °C. Two different effects could be observed: a) The duration of the response increased with increasing temperature up to a maximum value which was in most cases at about 30 °C and then decreased again. b) The impulse intervals decreased continuously with increasing temperature between 20 ° and 50 °C. The evaluation of the impulses/stimulus revealed an outstanding maximum of the response at about 30 °C.

  4. 4.

    Adaptation of impulse frequency during a rectangular mechanical stimulus was nearly independent of skin temperature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arbeitsgruppe Temperaturregulation, Abteilung für Biologie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Federal Republic of Germany

    Reinhold Necker

  2. Institut für Tierphysiologie, Postfach 2148, D-4630, Bochum, Federal Republic of Germany

    Reinhold Necker

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  1. Reinhold Necker
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Additional information

Supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 114).

I'm very much obliged to Dr. G. Kauffmann, Inst, für Allgemeine Zoologie (Prof. Dr. J. Schwartzkopff) for letting me have the caimans.

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Necker, R. Dependence of mechanoreceptor activity on skin temperature in sauropsids. J. Comp. Physiol. 92, 65–73 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696527

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696527

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