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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Intravital Two-Photon Imaging of Touch Sensory Axon Morphology in Mouse Skin
Published on: December 30, 2025
Activity-dependent slowing properties of an unmyelinated low threshold mechanoreceptor in human hairy skin
Mario Campero1, Hugh Bostock, Thomas K Baumann
1Facultad de Medicina, Clínica Alemana-Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile. mcampero@med.uchile.cl
Abstract:
It has been previously shown that unmyelinated afferent fibres in human skin are differentiated not only by their receptor characteristics, but also by their profiles of activity-dependent slowing. One type of profile, described originally as 'type 3', is different from that of nociceptors (type 1), cold afferents (type 2) and sympathetic efferents (type 4), in that these fibres display a minimal activity-dependent slowing (∼1% at 2 Hz). However, their function remains to be determined. Here we describe one unit with a typical 'type 3' activity-dependent slowing profile recorded from an undamaged fascicle of the superficial peroneal nerve of a patient. Its conduction velocity was 1.8 m s(-1) and it slowed by 1.3% during the 2 Hz tetanus. This unit had a mechanical receptive field in the hairy skin and responded readily to weak mechanical stimuli, and not to cold. This suggests that the low threshold unmyelinated mechanoreceptors recently described in human hairy skin are probably endowed with a 'type 3' activity-dependent profile.
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