Cutaneous Thermoreception

Abstract

Cutaneous thermoreceptors in homeotherms are involved in conscious temperature sensations but they may be even more important in connection with behavioral and thermoregulatory responses. Thus the physiology of thermoreceptors includes various aspects, namely 1. temperature sensations in human subjects, 2. afferent impulses from units responding to thermal stimulation in animals and, to some extent, in man, 3. behavioral responses to thermal stimulation in animals, and 4. thermoregulatory reflexes in animals and human subjects. We will restrict ourselves to a short presentation here and refer the reader to comprehensive works on thermoreceptors (Hensel, 1952 a, 1966, 1973; Zotterman, 1959) and patterns of behavior of homeotherms under thermal stimulation (Herter, 1952; Hardy, Gagge, and Stolwijk, 1970; Whittow, 1970, 1971; Cabanac, 1971). Thermosensitive structures in the central nervous system are dealt with on p. 567.