Most cells in the skin that sense temperature can detect both warmth and cold, rather than being split into separate warm-sensing and cool-sensing populations, according to new research from the University of Queensland.
Researchers led by Dr Clarissa Whitmire and Dr Phill Bokiniec at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute used advanced imaging techniques to track thousands of individual thermoreceptor cells in mice, mapping how they responded as temperatures shifted up and down.
The team found that the large majority of these skin thermoreceptors are not narrowly tuned to only warm or only cool stimuli. Instead, most can register both directions of temperature change, challenging a longstanding assumption that separate, dedicated warm- and cool-sensing cells parcel out the job of thermal perception.
The findings have implications well beyond basic biology. Understanding how the body senses temperature changes could inform treatment of thermal dysfunction linked to spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and peripheral neuropathy — conditions in which patients often experience disrupted or painful responses to heat and cold. The research may also shed light on how the body’s temperature-sensing systems change with aging, a question with growing relevance as heat waves become more frequent and intense.
Journal: Neuron
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2026.06.021
Publication Date: 16-Jul-2026
Source: EurekAlert