Lecture Three - Skin Nurophysillogy Flashcards
Touch receptors of the skin
No perfect one _____ - one____ relationship. Receptors can often _____ __ several _____ _____ but will be most ____ to a ____ type.
There is no erpfect one receptor - one function relationship. Receptors can often respond to several different stimuli but will be most sensitive to a particular type
What is the most common receptor in skin?
Free nerve endings
Free nerve endings - myelinated / unmylineated ??
mostly unmyleinated small diameter fibres but also some small diameter myelinated fibres
What are the small swellings usually present at the distal ends of free nerve endings ?
Sensory terminals
Sensory thermals
Small swellings usually present at distal ends of free nerve endings
Sensory terminals have…
Receptors that can respond to various painful (nociceptice), thermal and chemical stimuli
Types of receptors on sensory terminals of free nerve endings and what happens once activated
- some are cation channels (e.g TRPV1 receptors)
- others chemically activated (e.g H1 receptors)
Activation leads to APS in afferent sensory axons to CNS»_space; somatosensory cortex
Example of receptors with cation channels
TRPV1 receptors
Example of receptors that are chemically activated
H1 receptors
What do free nerve endings respond to?
- temperature
- painful stimuli
- some movement and pressure
- some to itch (e.g in response to histamine)
- some wrap around hair follicles (peritrichial endings) acting as light touch receptors which detect blinding of hairs
What are tactile (Merkel) discs
Free nerve endings located in deepest layer of epidermis
What are tactile discs associated with?
Large disc shaped epidermal (Merkel) cells
Communication between the tactile epithelial cell and nerve ending can possible occur via…
Serotonin (5HT)
What does serotonin (5HT) allow?
Possible communication between the tactile epithelial cell and nerve ending
Where are tactile receptors very abundant
Fingertips
Size of receptive fields of tactile disks on fingertips
Very small - good two point discrimination
What are tactile discs sensitive to?
Sensitive to an objects physical features
- fine touch and light pressure
- texture, shape and edges
Where are tactile corpuscles located
- in the papillary layer of the dermis
- especially in hairless skin e.g: finger pads, lips, eyelids, external genitalia, soles of feet, nipples
Are tactile corpuscles encapsulated ?
Yep
Structure of the capsule of tactile corpuscles
- spiralling / branching unmyelinated sensory terminals surrounded by modified Schwann cells and then by a thin oval fibrous connective tissue capsule
In tactile corpuscles what causes an AP?
- deformation of capsule triggers entry of Na+ ions into nerve terminal —-> AP
Tactile corpuscles sensations
- delicate ‘fine’ or discriminative touch
- sensation to shape or textural changes in exploratory touch e.g reading braille text
- movement of objects over the surface of the skin
- light pressure
- low frequency vibration (2-80Hz)