Burton H
J Neurophysiol. 1975 Sep;38(5):1060-79. doi: 10.1152/jn.1975.38.5.1060.
Single-neuron recordings were made from the lumbar spinal cords of cats and squirrel monkeys. Recording sites were distributed throughout the dorsal horn and included Rexed's laminae I and III-VI in both species and laminae VII-VIII in cats. Activity was studied during systematic changes in skin temperature over the range of 15-49 degress C; this encompasses the perceptions of innocuous cooling and warming plus the initial stages of noxious heating. The experiment included studies in which the thermal stimulus was changed from various preadapting temperatures. In all cases, the sensitivity of an individual neuron to changes in skin temperature was associated with responses to various intensities of tactile stimulation which, for some neurons, could range from low to painful pressures. More than two-thirds of the neurons excited by innocuous temperature changes discharged to both cooling and warming, although the thresholds were much lower for cold temperature differecnes (less than or equal to 2 degrees C for cold steps as compared with more than 6 degrees C for warm steps). However, many neurons only responded to extreme cooling or, more frequently, noxious heating. The temperature response relationships of many neurons during cooling was best described in reference to specific cold-receptor activity because the discharge rates declined at extremely cold temperatures and because the slopes of the temperature-response functions were nearly identical when studied with different adapting temperatures. The responses of certain slowly adapting mechanoreceptors was considered in describing some of the spinal cord activity during extreme cooling. The responses to hot temperatures were attributed to activity in various receptors, including especially polymodal receptors. Activity during innocuous warming was ascribed to one population of peripheral warm receptors that do not show maximal static activity during innocuous warm stimuli. The significance of the extensive convergence in the spinal cord from mechanoreceptors and thermoreceptors was discussed in relation to thermal perception and the complexity of the information transmitted by the spinothalamic tract.
对猫和松鼠猴的腰脊髓进行了单神经元记录。记录位点分布在整个背角，在两个物种中均包括 Rexed 板层 I 和 III - VI，在猫中还包括板层 VII - VIII。在皮肤温度在 15 - 49 摄氏度范围内进行系统性变化期间研究了神经元活动；这涵盖了无害冷却和加热的感觉以及有害加热的初始阶段。实验包括在热刺激从各种预适应温度改变时进行的研究。在所有情况下，单个神经元对皮肤温度变化的敏感性与对各种强度触觉刺激的反应相关，对于一些神经元，触觉刺激强度范围可以从低压力到疼痛压力。超过三分之二由无害温度变化激发的神经元对冷却和加热都有放电，尽管冷温度差异的阈值要低得多（冷步长小于或等于 2 摄氏度，而暖步长大于 6 摄氏度）。然而，许多神经元仅对极端冷却或更常见的有害加热有反应。许多神经元在冷却期间的温度反应关系最好参照特定冷感受器活动来描述，因为在极冷温度下放电率会下降，并且当用不同的适应温度进行研究时，温度反应函数的斜率几乎相同。在描述极端冷却期间的一些脊髓活动时考虑了某些慢适应机械感受器的反应。对热温度的反应归因于各种感受器的活动，尤其包括多模式感受器。无害加热期间的活动归因于一类外周暖感受器，它们在无害热刺激期间不会表现出最大静态活动。讨论了脊髓中机械感受器和热感受器广泛汇聚的意义与热感觉以及脊髓丘脑束传递信息的复杂性之间的关系。
