THERMORECEPTOR PHYSIOLOGY 
DR. FREEMAN: In the light of your experience, would you have 
any suggestions as to how best to get into a cold swimming pool? 
DR. HENSEL: You mean just jump in? It depends on what you 
like. If you come from a hot room, it is very pleasant to jump into 
the cold water. If the same cold jump starts from a very high tem- 
perature level, we get a lower discharge frequency than when star- 
ting from, say, 34 C. 
DR. MINARD: I was wondering to what extent the static dis- 
charge is related to the spatial temperature gradient in the skin. 
DR. HENSEL: This concept has been completely disproved. We 
are sure now that the spatial gradient does not play any role in the 
excitation of thermal receptors. We can cool the receptor layer 
from above or from below. There is no difference in the discharge. 
I think it is well established that the discharge is only dependent on 
temperature itself, not on the spatial pattern of temperature. 
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