Peripheral Sensory Mechanisms Flashcards
What are the 4 types of mechanoreceptors in glaborous skin?
meissner, merkel, ruffini, pacinian
Where are the cell bodies of mechanoreceptors?
in the dorsal root ganglion
What initiates the action potential in a mechanoreceptor?
skin distortion stretches the membrane of the receptor which opens sodium channels
What is the difference between slowly adapting and rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors?
slowly adapting receptors encode the size of the stimulus over time but rapidly adapting receptors detect the start and end of a stimulus
Which mechanoreceptors are slowly adapting?
merkel and ruffini
Which mechanoreceptors are rapidly adapting?
meissner and pacinian
Which mechanoreceptors are close to the surface of the skin and therefore have a small receptive field?
meissner and merkel
Which mechanoreceptors are deep and so have a large receptive field?
ruffini and pacinian
Which mechanoreceptor encodes rate of force?
meissner
Which mechanoreceptor encodes grip force?
merkel
Which mechanoreceptor encodes proprioception?
ruffini
Which mechanoreceptor encodes vibrations?
pacinian
What type of axons do mechanoreceptors have?
large myelinated axons
Do touch fibres travel ipsilaterally or contralaterally up the spinal cord?
ipsilaterally
