A thermoreceptor is a non-specialized sensory cell, or more precisely the receptive portion of a sensory neuron, that reads subtle changes in temperature. In addition, there are heat receptor and cold receptor cells that register temperatures that are above or below the ambient temperature. Strangely, cold receptor cells will have the same response to intense heat as they do to cold. How many of you have spilled hot water on yourself and had your brain initially register only pain without associating that pain with either hot or cold