[The structure of the impulse activity of cold thermoreceptors at different levels]

Impulse activity of cold fibres (n. infraorbitalis) has been studied in acute experiments on anesthetized rabbits, with an uninterrupted fall of the skin temperature from 39 degrees to 7 degrees C with the rate of 0.8 +/- 0.05 degrees/min. Analysis of interspike intervals (ISI) in a discharge of receptors has shown that histograms of ISI changed several times in the studied range of temperatures, which reflects a change of the discharge pattern. Each cold receptor possesses an individual mode of the response, which permits dwelling on perception of different characteristics of the temperature stimulus by a sum of thermoreceptors.