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Related Concept Videos

Thermosensation01:43

Thermosensation

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Peripheral thermosensation is the perception of external temperature. A change in temperature (on the surface of the skin and other tissues) is detected by a family of temperature-sensitive ion channels called Transient Receptor Potential, or TRP, receptors. These receptors are located on free nerve endings. Those detecting cold temperatures are closer to the surface of the skin than the nerve endings detecting warmth. These thermoTRP channels, while temperature selective, have relatively...
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Nociception01:44

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Nociception—the ability to feel pain—is essential for an organism’s survival and overall well-being. Noxious stimuli such as piercing pain from a sharp object, heat from an open flame, or contact with corrosive chemicals are first detected by sensory receptors, called nociceptors, located on nerve endings. Nociceptors express ion channels that convert noxious stimuli into electrical signals. When these signals reach the brain via sensory neurons, they are perceived as pain.
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Pain01:20

Pain

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Pain serves as a critical warning signal that alerts the body to potential or actual harm. When mechanical pressure on the skin is intense, such as from a sharp pinch, the sensation transitions from touch to pain. Similarly, extreme temperatures, like a hot pot handle, convert the sensation of heat into pain. Pain can also result from overstimulation of other senses, such as blinding light, loud noise, or the intense heat from habañero peppers. This ability to sense pain is essential for...
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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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Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

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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 Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

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The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 21, 2025

In Vivo Calcium Imaging of Neuronal Ensembles in Networks of Primary Sensory Neurons in Intact Dorsal Root Ganglia
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A distributed coding logic for thermosensation and inflammatory pain.

Nima Ghitani1, Lars J von Buchholtz2, Donald Iain MacDonald1

  • 1National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Nature
|April 24, 2025
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Inflammation transforms how somatosensory neurons detect heat and touch, causing pain. Nociceptor activity, not direct touch changes, drives inflammatory pain and heat hypersensitivity.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Biology
  • Pain Research

Background:

  • Somatosensory neurons transmit touch, temperature, and pain signals.
  • Understanding how these neurons encode stimuli and how inflammation alters this is crucial for pain management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the encoding of heat and mechanical stimuli by neuronal classes.
  • To determine how inflammation transforms sensory representations, leading to pain hypersensitivity.

Main Methods:

  • Combined functional imaging with multiplexed in situ hybridization.
  • Utilized prostaglandin E2 to induce inflammation and observed neuronal responses.

Main Results:

  • Complete segregation of gentle touch and heat responses in trigeminal neurons.
  • Broad activation of nociceptors by heat and noxious mechanical stimuli.
  • Inflammation caused long-lasting activity and thermal sensitization in specific nociceptors, mediated by TRPV1.
  • Mechanical stimulus responses were minimally affected by inflammation; nociceptor activity correlated with tactile allodynia.

Conclusions:

  • Touch and temperature are differentially encoded across distinct sensory neuron populations.
  • Inflammation reshapes cellular responses, inducing heat hypersensitivity and inflammatory pain.
  • Nociceptor activity is key to inflammatory tactile allodynia.