How the skin really tells cool from warm

Whether we hold a warm mug or step onto a cool floor, specialized nerve cells in the skin constantly report temperature to the brain.

Scientists have long assumed that separate groups of sensory cells detect nonpainful cool and warm temperatures.

Now, researchers led by Drs.

Phillip Bokiniec and Clarissa Whitmire in the Neural Circuits and Behavior Lab of Dr.

James Poulet at the Max Delbrück Center have found that this assumption is too simplistic. ...