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Comment
. 2020 Jul 20;30(14):R809-R811.
doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.026.

Neuroscience: Sensing Absolute Cold

Renny Ng  1 , Chih-Ying Su  2
Affiliations
Comment

Neuroscience: Sensing Absolute Cold

Renny Ng et al. Curr Biol. .

Abstract

To overwinter, animals must detect constant cold temperatures before adapting their behavior accordingly. A new study in Drosophila describes a circuit mechanism - from sensory neurons to higher brain centers - that encodes and relays persistent, absolute cold stimuli to modulate sleep.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Neural circuit linking cold thermosensory inputs to circadian regulation.
Bottom panel: The Anterior Cold cells (ACc, left), aristal cooling neurons (center), and sacculus chamber I thermosensory receptor neurons (TRNs, right) all project to the cold glomerulus of the posterior antennal lobe. The sacculus TRNs show sustained response to persistent cold stimulation below 25°C. Middle panel: TPN-II thermosensory projection neurons receive input from the three peripheral TRN populations, and also show sustained activation to persistent cold. Top panel: DN1a circadian neurons are inhibited by TPN-IIs, and show sustained inactivation to persistent cold. DN1a activity modulates the patterns and structure of sleep. Illustration by Cora Xing.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

  • A Circuit Encoding Absolute Cold Temperature in Drosophila.
    Alpert MH, Frank DD, Kaspi E, Flourakis M, Zaharieva EE, Allada R, Para A, Gallio M. Alpert MH, et al. Curr Biol. 2020 Jun 22;30(12):2275-2288.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.038. Epub 2020 May 21. Curr Biol. 2020. PMID: 32442464 Free PMC article.

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