Responses of thermosensitive preoptic and septal neurons to hippocampal and brain stem stimulation

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Abstract
In anesthetized rabbits, preoptic and septal single units were tested for their response to changes in preoptic temperature and low-frequency electrical stimulation in the hippocampus, midbrain reticular formation, lateral lemniscus and lateral spinothalamic tract. Forty-two percent of the units were affected by at least 1 of the stimulation sites, and most of these were excited. Prolonged stimulation altered the thermosensitivity of some neurons. Brain stem stimulation affected 64% of the cold-sensitive neurons, 60% of the warm-sensitive neurons and 17% of the temperature-insensitive neurons. Hippocampal stimulation affected 47% of the cold-sensitive neurons, 34% of the warm-sensitive neurons and only 4% of the temperature-insensitive neurons. For the warm-sensitive neurons, brain stem stimulation had its greatest effect on those units firing between 15-25 impulses/s, while hippocampal stimulation had its predominant effect on those units firing between 10-15 impulses/s. These differences in firing rate correlate with different temperature ranges of preoptic thermosensitivity.

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