Exteroception & Nocioception Flashcards
Short sensory axons
Allow receptor potential to spread to synaptic end of the cell by passive electronic transmission
Ex: Rod photoreceptors, auditory hair cells
Long sensory axons
Employ regenerative action potentials to carry info from the receptive ending to the synaptic release site in the spinal cord or brainstem
I.e. somatosensory receptors
How do rod photoreceptors detect light?
Rod photoreceptors have resting potentials ~-30-40mV due to resting cation conductance via cGMP-gated cation channels
Receptor TM protein rhodopsin binds light-activated 1-trans-retinal, inducing a conformational change in rhodoptsin to metarhodopsin; this stimulates a G-protein which activates cGMP phosphodiesterase; decreased cGMP causes closure of cGMP-gated cation channels, hyperpolarizing the cell; decreased NT release is interpreted by higher order neurons as a response to light
A-alpha afferents
Largest diameter
Fastest speed
Muscle spindle and tendon afferents
A-beta afferents
Intermediate size
Intermediate speed
Mechanical receptors of skin
A-delta afferents
Small size
Slow conducting speed
Sharp pain, cold temperature
C afferent fibers
Smallest diameter (0.2-1.5uM) Slowest speed (0.4-2m/sec) *Unmyelinated
Warm temperature, burning pain, itch, crude touch
Rapidly vs. slowly adapting receptors
Rapidly adapting receptors (Meissner, Pacinian) fire only one or a few action potentials when stimulated by steady touch, then stop firing
Slowly adapting receptors (Merckel, Ruffini) fire continuously when stimulated with steady touch
Receptive field
The area of the skin in which a mechanical stimulus elicits a response from the individual cell
Merkel’s Disks
Slowly adapting afferents with small receptive fields
Present at high density in the finger tips
Pacinian Corpuscle
Rapidly adapting afferents with large receptive fields; lie deep in the dermis and subcutaneous tissue
High sensitivity to skin deformation over a wide area, i.e. vibration
Meisner’s corpuscle
Rapidly adapting afferents with small receptive fields
Present at high density in the fingertips where they sense fine vibration
Ruffini’s (free nerve) endings
Slowly adapting afferents with large receptive fields; lie deep in the dermis and subcutaneous tissue
Evaluate information related to prolonged stretching of skin, i.e. grip
Hair follicles
Unmyelinated branches of axons spiral around hair follicles within the dermis; bending of the hair shaft activates the sensory terminals
Ventrobasal complex
Ventral posterolateral (VPL) nucleus + Ventral posteromedial (VPM) nucleus in the thalamus
VPL receives input from secondary neurons in the nucleus gracilis and nucleus cuneatus; VPM receives input from secondary neurons in the principal nucleus
Trigeminal mesencephalic nucleus
Houses the cell bodies of muscle spindle fibers in the muscles of mastication (proprioceptive afferents) and some mechanoreceptors of the mouth; these cells are the only population of proprioceptive afferents with centrally located cell bodies
Spinoreticular pathway
Afferent fibers running within the anterolateral system that convey pain input to the forebrain; elicits emotional/behavioral responses to pain via connections to the limbic system (cingulate gyrus)
Spinomesencephalic tract
Afferent fibers running within the anterolateral system that convey pain input to the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG)
What is the thermoneutral point?
~38 degrees Celcius; neither warmth nor cool sensed because cool and warm receptors have equal firing rates