Convergence of skin and hypothalamic temperature signals on the sulcal prefrontal cortex in the rat.
Single unit activities in the sulcal prefrontal cortex (S-PEC) were recorded during thermal stimulation of scrotal skin and the hypothalamus in urethane-anesthetized rats. (1) Of all the 146 S-PFC units tested, 126 (86%) units changed the firing rate in response to changes in scrotal skin temperature (Tsc), and 98 (67%) units to alterations in hypothalamic temperature (Thyp). Sixty-five percent of the S-PFC units responded to both Tsc and Thyp changes. (2) Response characteristics of Tsc-responding S-PFC units were modified when the hypothalamus was warmed or cooled. (3) Microinjection of procaine into the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus reversibly blocked the response of S-PFC units to changes in Tsc and/or Thyp. (4) The high degree of convergence of thermal signals from scrotal skin and the hypothalamus on the S-PFC suggests that the S-PFC neurons play a role in processing and integrating thermal signals arising from different parts of the body, probably in connection with the emotional and/or motivational aspect of neural sensation and thermoregulatory behavior.
Shibata
M
M
Department of Physiology, Saga Medical College, Japan.
Hori
T
T
Kiyohara
T
T
Nakashima
T
T
D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000502:physiology*; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D011343:Procaine / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012611:Scrotum; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation; D012881:Skin Temperature; D013788:Thalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
D011343:Procaine