Thermoreceptor

<p>A thermoreceptor is a non-specialised <a href="/facts/Sense/n9kYQ3rf">sense</a> <a href="/facts/Cutaneous_receptor/EsVHHEI4">receptor</a>, or more accurately the receptive portion of a <a href="/facts/Sensory_neuron/EwY1m2bV">sensory neuron</a>, that codes absolute and relative changes in <a href="/facts/Temperature/QyGe4gmj">temperature</a>, primarily within the innocuous range. In the mammalian <a href="/facts/Peripheral_nervous_system/KjVpVnHU">peripheral nervous system</a>, warmth receptors are thought to be <a href="/facts/Myelin/DKgJB8s8">unmyelinated</a> <a href="/facts/C-fibres/9mBWCUnf">C-fibres</a> (low conduction velocity), while those responding to cold have both C-fibers and thinly myelinated <a href="/facts/A_delta_fiber/rWLrpWoz">A delta fibers</a> (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.
</p>

Thermoreceptor open-in-new

Thermoreceptor