Thermoreceptor

A thermoreceptor is a sensory receptor, or more accurately the receptive portion of a sensory neuron, that codes absolute and relative changes in temperature, primarily within the innocuous range. In the mammalian peripheral nervous system warmth receptors are thought to be unmyelinated C-fibres (low conduction velocity), while those responding to cold have thinly myelinated Aδ axons (faster conduction velocity). The adequate stimulus for a warm receptor is warming, which results in an increase in their action potential discharge rate. Cooling results in a decrease in warm receptor discharge rate. For cold receptors their firing rate increases during cooling and decreases during warming. Some cold receptors also respond with a brief action potential discharge to high temperatures, i.e. typically above 45°C, and this is known as a paradoxical response to heat. The mechanism responsible for this behavior has not been determined.

A special form of thermoreceptor is found in some snakes, the viper pit organ and this specialized structure is sensitive to energy in the infrared part of the spectrum.

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Location

In mammals, temperature receptors innervate various tissues including the skin (as cutaneous receptors), cornea and bladder. Neurons from the pre-optic and hypothalamic regions of the brain that respond to small changes in temperature have also been described, providing information on core temperature. The hypothalamus is involved in thermoregulation, the thermoreceptors allowing feed-forward responses to a predicted change in core body temperature in response to changing environmental conditions.

Structure

Thermoreceptors have been classically described as having 'free' non-specialised endings; the mechanism of activation in response to temperature changes is not completely understood.

Function

Cold-sensitive thermoreceptors give rise to the sensations of cooling, cold and freshness. In the cornea cold receptors are thought to respond with an increase in firing rate to cooling produced by evaporation of lacrimal fluid 'tears' and thereby to elicit a reflex blink.

Location

Warm and cold receptors play a part in sensing innocuous environmental temperature. Temperatures likely to damage an organism are sensed by sub-categories of nociceptors that may respond to noxious cold, noxious heat or more than one noxious stimulus modality (i.e they are polymodal). The nerve endings of sensory neurons that respond preferentially to cooling are found in moderate density in the skin but also occur in relatively high spatial density in facial skin, cornea, tongue and strangely enough the bladder. The speculation is that lingual cold receptors deliver information that modulates the sense of taste, cold beer tastes pretty good, but cold gravy is not so tasty.

Mechanism of transduction

This are of research has recently received considerable attention with the identification of the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family of proteins. The transduction of temperature in cold recceptors is mediated in part by the TRPM8 channel. This channel passes a mixed inward cationic (predominantly carried by Ca²⁺ ions) current of a magnitude that is inversely proportional to temperature. The channel is sensitive over a temperature range spanning about 10-35°C. Another molecular component of cold transduction is the temperature dependence of so-called leak channels which pass an outward current carried by potassium ions. Some leak channels derive from the family of two-pore (2P) domain potassium channels. Amongst the various members of the 2P-domain channels, some close quite promptly at temperatures less than about 28°C (eg. TRAAK, TREK).