de Cock Buning T, Terashima S, Goris R C
Cell Mol Neurobiol. 1981 Sep;1(3):271-8. doi: 10.1007/BF00710682.
The infrared receptor neurons of Python reticulatus pit organs were all found to have bimodal sensitivity, responding to both infrared and touch stimuli with fairly rapid adaptation. The majority (22 of 29 neurons) had no background discharges at any temperature between 20 and 33 degrees C. The receptive areas were 150-250 micrometers in diameter and identical for both modalities. There was only one receptive area for each neuron. These facts suggest the possibility that some kinds of temperature sensitive neurons can also function as touch neurons and vice versa, not only in this species, but also in other animals.
缅甸蟒颊窝器官的红外感受器神经元均具有双峰敏感性,对红外和触觉刺激均有反应,且适应速度相当快。大多数(29个神经元中的22个)在20至33摄氏度之间的任何温度下都没有背景放电。感受野直径为150 - 250微米,两种模式下相同。每个神经元只有一个感受野。这些事实表明,不仅在该物种中,而且在其他动物中,某些类型的温度敏感神经元也可能同时起到触觉神经元的作用,反之亦然。