Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Neuroscience

Hot on the trail of temperature processing

Nature volume 519, pages 296–297 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Two studies investigate how information about temperature is processed in the brains of fruit flies, and reveal that different neuronal pathways transmit heating and cooling signals to higher brain regions. See Letters p.353 & p.358

People often seek a cool breeze on a hot summer's day, and delight in a roaring fire on a cold winter's evening — the desire to stay in a thermal 'comfort zone' is a powerful driver of our behaviour. Because temperature is both a sensory stimulus and a factor that directly affects metabolic processes, it is not surprising that nearly all animals avoid unfavourable temperatures1. But what is the biological basis of temperature preference? Two studies2,3 in this issue track the flow of temperature information into the brains of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). They reveal that the brain extracts different qualities of temperature at the very first connection, and does so using distinct mechanisms for hot and cold.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The flow of temperature information in the fly brain.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Fraenkel, G. S. & Gunn, D. L. The Orientation of Animals: Kineses, Taxes, and Compass Reactions 2nd edn 190 (Dover, 1960).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Frank, D. D., Jouandet, G. C., Kearny, P. J., Macpherson, L. J. & Gallio, M. Nature 519, 358–361 (2015).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Liu, W. W., Mazor, O. & Wilson, R. I. Nature 519, 353–357 (2015).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Klein, M. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, E220–E229 (2015).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Ofstad, T. A., Zuker, C. S. & Reiser, M. B. Nature 474, 204–207 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Sayeed, O. & Benzer, S. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 93, 6079–6084 (1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Hamada, F. N. et al. Nature 454, 217–222 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Gallio, M., Ofstad, T. A., Macpherson, L. J., Wang, J. W. & Zuker, C. S. Cell 144, 614–624 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Tracey, W. D. Jr, Wilson, R. I., Laurent, G. & Benzer, S. Cell 113, 261–273 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Ni, L. et al. Nature 500, 580–584 (2013).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Jenett, A. et al. Cell Rep. 2, 991–1001 (2012).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Kvon, E. Z. et al. Nature 512, 91–95 (2014).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. TJ Florence and Michael B. Reiser are at the Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, Virginia 20147, USA.,

    TJ Florence & Michael B. Reiser

Authors
  1. TJ Florence
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael B. Reiser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to TJ Florence or Michael B. Reiser.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Florence, T., Reiser, M. Hot on the trail of temperature processing. Nature 519, 296–297 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14209

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14209

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing