Agenda

14/07/2026

The skin is not a thermometer: how does the body shape thermal perception?

Sala Rita Levi 09:00 h

Us convidem al pròxim seminari organitzat pel Programa de Neurociències de l'Hospital del Mar Research Institut que tindrà lloc el pròxim dimarts 14 de juliol a les 09:00 h a la Sala Rita Levi. El títol serà "The skin is not a thermometer: how does the body shape thermal perception?" i anirà a càrrec del Dr. Ivan Ezquerra-Romano, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow al Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine a Berlin.

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We invite you to the upcoming seminar organized by Neuroscience Program of the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, which will take place on Tuesday July 14, at 09:00 am in the Rita Levi room. The title of the seminar will be:"The skin is not a thermometer: how does the body shape thermal perception?", presented by Dr. Ivan Ezquerra-Romano, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin.

Poster

Abstract

Thermal perception is crucial for survival, but it is not a simple readout of temperature. The same cool breeze feels pleasant after a run on a hot summer day, but unpleasant when we are wet after a swim in cold water. Therefore, what we feel depends on how the nervous system integrates sensory inputs with internal body state. My research aims to understand how thermal perception is shaped by the integration of external and internal signals.

In this talk, I will introduce a series of published and ongoing experiments on thermal perception and the underlying neural activity. To measure perception, I use psychophysics in humans and mice as well as behavioural paradigms in mice. To probe the nervous system, I use chemogenetic manipulations and cortical recordings with widefield and two-photon imaging in mice. This combination of human and mouse studies elucidates how thermal experience is shaped by the body. Together, these studies raise the intriguing question of how the same neural code, the action potential, leads to different thermal experiences depending on the context.

Bio

Dr. Ivan Ezquerra-Romano is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, where he uses the mouse model to study the role of body temperature in thermal perception and cortical encoding, as well as the neural encoding of wetness perception in the cortex. He is also developing a framework to bridge human and mouse studies on thermal perception.

During his PhD at University College London, he investigated how tactile input modulates cold perception in humans and cortical responses in mice. His main research line aims to understand how perception is shaped by the integration of external and internal information by combining psychophysics in mice and humans with behavioural paradigms, physiological manipulations, and neural recordings in mice. Beyond his main work on perception, he contributes to research in science education and psychoactive drugs. In future work, he aims to use cross-species studies to understand how perception is shaped by neuromodulatory states.

Tots els actes