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Temperature Sensation: From Molecular Thermosensors to Neural Circuits and Coding Principles
1Department of Aging and Geriatric Research, Institute on Aging and Center for Smell and Taste, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA;
Annual Review of Physiology
|October 21, 2020
Summary
Animals and humans detect temperature using conserved molecular sensors and neural circuits. Understanding thermosensation reveals insights into sensory biology and potential treatments for sensory disorders.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sensory Biology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Temperature is a critical environmental cue influencing physiology and behavior across species.
- Animals and humans possess sophisticated mechanisms for detecting temperature changes.
- Research in model organisms has uncovered fundamental principles of thermosensation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present the current understanding of thermosensation at molecular and cellular levels.
- To discuss coding strategies of thermosensation at the circuit level.
- To highlight the implications for sensory biology and disorder treatments.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing scientific literature on thermosensation.
- Analysis of molecular and cellular mechanisms of temperature detection.
- Examination of neural circuit logic for temperature information processing.
Main Results:
- Conserved molecular thermosensors (e.g., channels, receptors) initiate temperature detection across taxa.
- Thermosensory neurons and circuits employ similar transduction and processing logic in different species.
- Fundamental coding strategies for thermosensation at the circuit level are being elucidated.
Conclusions:
- Thermosensation involves conserved molecular detectors and similar neural processing logic.
- Understanding thermosensation provides insights into fundamental sensory biology.
- This knowledge can inform the development of treatments for sensory disorders.
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