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Delayed firing rate responses to temperature in diencephalic slices
1Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
The American Journal of Physiology
|September 1, 1992
Summary
Certain neurons exhibit delayed thermosensitivity, an intrinsic property potentially explaining delayed thermoregulatory responses. This finding sheds light on neural mechanisms controlling body temperature regulation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Physiology
- Thermoregulation
Background:
- Thermoregulatory responses show delayed onset/offset after hypothalamic temperature changes.
- Previous research identified delayed neuronal firing in remote diencephalic regions during thermal stimulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate delayed firing rate responses in neurons subjected to local temperature changes.
- Determine if delayed thermosensitivity is an intrinsic neuronal property.
Main Methods:
- Clamped local temperature changes (1.5-10 min) applied to diencephalic neurons in rat tissue slices.
- Recorded neuronal firing rate responses to thermal stimulation.
- Utilized synaptic blockade to assess the role of neural connections.
Main Results:
- 23% of tested neurons (6/26) exhibited delayed firing rate responses with on-latencies of 1.0-7.8 min.
- Delayed responses were largely unaffected by synaptic blockade, suggesting intrinsic properties.
- Local delayed thermosensitivity showed similarities to remote-sensitive neurons but differed in off-latencies and thermal sensitivity.
Conclusions:
- Delayed thermosensitivity appears to be an intrinsic property of specific neurons.
- These neurons may initiate prolonged delayed responses within diencephalic networks.
- This intrinsic property could underlie the delayed thermoregulatory responses observed in vivo.