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Related Concept Videos

Tactile and Chemical Senses01:27

Tactile and Chemical Senses

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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.
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Somatosensation01:33

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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.
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Sensory Functions of the Skin01:16

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The skin is the largest organ of the human body and plays a crucial role in our sensory perception. It contains a vast network of sensory receptors that contribute to the skin's protective function by perceiving physical, biological, and environmental cues and generating relevant responses.
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Introduction to Special Senses01:26

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Sensory receptors play an integral part in comprehending our external and internal environments. They receive diverse stimuli, converting them into the nervous system's electrochemical signals. This conversion occurs as the stimulus alters the sensory neuron's cell membrane potential, instigating the generation of an action potential. This action potential is subsequently transmitted to the central nervous system (CNS), which integrates with other sensory data or higher cognitive...
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Sensory receptors are vital in our ability to perceive and interpret the world. Sensory receptors are specialized cells in the peripheral nervous system that respond to various stimuli and enable one to experience different sensations. Based on specific criteria, sensory receptors are classified into distinct types.
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Updated: Oct 20, 2025

Assessment of Spatial Lingual Tactile Sensitivity using a Gratings Orientation Test
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Tactile sensitivity in the rat: a correlation between receptor structure and function.

Lucia Guzun1, Pascal Fortier-Poisson1, Jean-Sébastien Langlais1

  • 1Centre de Recherche en Sciences Neurologiques, Département de Physiologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128 succersale centre-ville, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada.

Experimental Brain Research
|September 14, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Rats have Meissner corpuscles and Merkel complexes in their forelimb skin, with distinct distributions of rapidly adapting and slowly adapting fibers suggesting specialized functions for locomotion and object manipulation.

Keywords:
Cutaneous receptorsMeissner corpusclesMerkel complexesRapidly adaptingSlowly adapting

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Dermatology
  • Mammalian Physiology

Background:

  • The rat forelimb's glabrous skin contains low threshold mechanoreceptors crucial for sensory feedback.
  • Understanding the correlation between receptor anatomy and physiology is key to interpreting sensory input.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the types and distribution of mechanoreceptors in the rat forelimb's glabrous skin.
  • To correlate the identified receptor morphology with the physiological characteristics of cutaneous nerve fibers.

Main Methods:

  • Electrophysiological recordings of single cutaneous fibers in the median nerve of anesthetized rats.
  • Immunohistochemical staining of forelimb glabrous skin using antibodies NF-200 and PGP-9.5 to identify receptor complexes.
  • Analysis of receptor morphology and fiber adaptation properties.

Main Results:

  • Meissner corpuscles and Merkel complexes were identified in the dermal papilla of rat forelimb glabrous skin, primarily on palmar pads and digit tips.
  • Ruffini receptors and Pacinian corpuscles were not found in the analyzed samples.
  • Of 92 analyzed cutaneous fibers, 38% were rapidly adapting (RA) and 62% were slowly adapting (SA).
  • RA fibers predominated on digit tips (3.2:1 ratio), while SA fibers were more prevalent on the thenar pad (3:1 ratio).

Conclusions:

  • The rat forelimb glabrous skin possesses limited mechanoreceptors, primarily Meissner corpuscles and Merkel complexes.
  • The differential distribution of RA and SA afferents in the digit tips versus palmar pads suggests distinct roles in locomotion and object manipulation.