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Related Concept Videos

Action Potential01:14

Action Potential

Neurons communicate by firing action potentials—the electrochemical signal that is propagated along the axon. The signal results in the release of neurotransmitters at axon terminals, thereby transmitting information to the nervous system. An action potential is a specific "all-or-none" change in membrane potential that results in a rapid spike in voltage.
Membrane potential in neurons
Neurons typically have a resting membrane potential of about -70 millivolts (mV). When they receive...
Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways01:29

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...
Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
Tactile and Chemical Senses01:27

Tactile and Chemical Senses

Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex. This...

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Intravital Two-Photon Imaging of Touch Sensory Axon Morphology in Mouse Skin
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Published on: December 30, 2025

Passive vs. active touch-induced activity in the developing whisker pathway.

Tony Mosconi1, Thomas A Woolsey, Mark F Jacquin

  • 1Department of Physical Therapy, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, USA.

The European Journal of Neuroscience
|September 18, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mouse trigeminal system development shows heightened neuronal activity before whisking begins. Postnatal day 14 marks a shift, with active touch driving specific brain region activity and altering surrounding neural module responses.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Sensory Systems

Background:

  • The mouse trigeminal (V) system exhibits substantial postnatal structural and functional development.
  • Histological modules (barrelettes, barreloids, barrels) in the brainstem, thalamus, and cortex are crucial for studying tactile hair (vibrissae) development.
  • These modules are linked to active facial movements (whisking).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze neuronal activity changes in the developing and mature mouse trigeminal system.
  • To investigate how activity patterns relate to the onset of active touch (whisking) around postnatal day 14.
  • To test the hypothesis that neuronal activity patterns change with the emergence of whisking behavior.

Main Methods:

  • High-resolution [(3)H]2-deoxyglucose (2DG) emulsion autoradiography was employed.
  • Cytochrome oxidase histochemistry was used in conjunction with 2DG autoradiography.
  • Neuronal activity was analyzed in response to passive and active single whisker (D4) displacements across different postnatal ages.

Main Results:

  • On postnatal day 7, heightened 2DG activity was observed in brainstem, thalamus, and cortex modules.
  • On postnatal day 14, a transient activity pattern emerged, coinciding with the onset of whisking behavior.
  • Active touch in adults strongly activated the spinal V subnucleus interpolaris and barrel cortex; suppressed activity was noted in surrounding modules at all ages.

Conclusions:

  • Neuronal activity patterns in the trigeminal system change significantly before and after the onset of whisking.
  • Whisking-induced neuronal activity and strengthened modulatory projections likely contribute to these observed activity differences.
  • These findings highlight the dynamic nature of sensory processing during development and the role of active touch.