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The cellular coding of temperature in the mammalian cortex

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Item Type:Article
Title:The cellular coding of temperature in the mammalian cortex
Creators Name:Vestergaard, M., Carta, M., Güney, G. and Poulet, J.F.A.
Abstract:Temperature is a fundamental sensory modality separate from touch, with dedicated receptor channels and primary afferent neurons for cool and warm. Unlike for other modalities, however, the cortical encoding of temperature remains unknown, with very few cortical neurons reported that respond to non-painful temperature, and the presence of a 'thermal cortex' is debated. Here, using widefield and two-photon calcium imaging in the mouse forepaw system, we identify cortical neurons that respond to cooling and/or warming with distinct spatial and temporal response properties. We observed a representation of cool, but not warm, in the primary somatosensory cortex, but cool and warm in the posterior insular cortex (pIC). The representation of thermal information in pIC is robust and somatotopically arranged, and reversible manipulations show a profound impact on thermal perception. Despite being positioned along the same one-dimensional sensory axis, the encoding of cool and that of warm are distinct, both in highly and broadly tuned neurons. Together, our results show that pIC contains the primary cortical representation of skin temperature and may help explain how the thermal system generates sensations of cool and warm.
Keywords:Cold Temperature, Hot Temperature, Insular Cortex, Neurons, Skin Temperature, Somatosensory Cortex, Spatio-Temporal Analysis, Touch Perception, Animals, Mice
Source:Nature
ISSN:0028-0836
Publisher:Nature Publishing Group
Volume:614
Number:7949
Page Range:725-731
Date:23 February 2023
Official Publication:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05705-5
PubMed:View item in PubMed

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