An analysis of the responses of rat striatal neurones to scrotal skin temperature.

The responses of neurones in the caudate-putamen complex of anaesthetised rats to different scrotal skin temperatures were examined, together with the electroencephalogram (EEG). Caudate neuronal firing patterns did not change independently of rate, unlike the thermo-responsive cells of the hypothalamus previously reported. The scrotal skin temperature threshold for the caudate neuronal response corresponds precisely with the temperature which provokes desynchronisation of the EEG.