title: A somatosensory circuit for cooling perception in mice.
abstract: The temperature of an object provides important somatosensory information for animals performing tactile tasks. Humans can perceive skin cooling of less than one degree, but the sensory afferents and central circuits that they engage to enable the perception of surface temperature are poorly understood. To address these questions, we examined the perception of glabrous skin cooling in mice. We found that mice were also capable of perceiving small amplitude skin cooling and that primary somatosensory (S1) cortical neurons were required for cooling perception. Moreover, the absence of the menthol-gated transient receptor potential melastatin 8 ion channel in sensory afferent fibers eliminated the ability to perceive cold and the corresponding activation of S1 neurons. Our results identify parts of a neural circuit underlying cold perception in mice and provide a new model system for the analysis of thermal processing and perception and multimodal integration.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, Germany. [2] Neuroscience Research Center and Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Nevena
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Milenkovic
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, Germany. [2] Neuroscience Research Center and Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Wen-Jie
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, Germany. [2] Neuroscience Research Center and Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walcher
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, Germany. [2] Neuroscience Research Center and Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siemens
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, Germany. [2] Neuroscience Research Center and Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Gary R
authors.identifier: 0000000228906352
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Lewin
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Neuroscience, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin-Buch, Germany. [2] Neuroscience Research Center and Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: James F A
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Poulet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003080:Cold Temperature; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena; D050053:TRPM Cation Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D013697:Thermosensing / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D050053:TRPM Cation Channels; C492297:TRPM8 protein, mouse