Somatic Sensation and Pain Flashcards
Define asterognosia
Inability to identify objects by touch
What are the 4 types of cutaneous mechanoreceptor in glabrous skin?
Slowly adapting type 1 (SA1) afferents that end in Merkel cells
Rapidly adapting RAI afferents that end in Meissner’s corpuscles
Rapidly adapting RAII Pascinian corpuscles
Slowly adapting type 2 SAII afferents that end in Ruffini endings
Discuss pascinian corpuscles Stim type they respond to Depth in the skin Sensitivity Receptive field Afferent Density
Respond to object held in the hand, good at detecting successive quick events, not to detect ongoing stimulation (but does detect high freq stim)
Deepest
Very, respond to 10nm motion at 200Hz
Large, central zone of maximum sensitivity
RAII 1:1
350 in finger, 800 in palm
Discuss Meissner's corpuscles Stim type they respond to Depth in the skin Sensitivity Receptive field Afferent Density
Low frequency vibration, I.e. perception of slip used for feedback for grip
x
High: enhanced sensitivity, poor spatial resolution
Small 3-5mm
RAI
High, 150/cm2
Discuss Merkel cells Stim type they respond to Depth in the skin Sensitivity Receptive field Afferent Density Size
Indentation: points/edges/curvature
x
Lower - higher spatial resolution. 10x more sensitive to dynamic stimuli.
Small, highly localised RF (0.5mm resolution)
SAI 20:1
Densely innervate skin
10s of micrometers
Discuss Ruffini endings Stim type they respond to Depth in the skin Sensitivity Receptive field Afferent Density Size
Hand shape and finger position, respond to stretching skin in a certain direction Deep x x SAII 1:1 x Few 100 micrometers
What does the lamellae of the pascinian corpuscle contribute and how do we know?
Know: peel then away
Find: when removed, they act like slowly adapting fibres. With lamella, in response to a stimulus onset or offset, the RP rises then decays quickly. Direct from the nerve ending, the stimulus triggers RP rising and then decaying slowly.
Define accessory structures
Structural components of sense organs which may play an important role in protection, conduction, concentration, analysis, sensitisation or inhibition, but that are not directly involved in the transduction process.
Name an accessory structure in somatosensation, proprioception, vision, auditory
Lamellae in PCs
Intrafusal muscle fibres
Eye structures
Basilar membrane
How can you detect vibration?
RA afferents
What is the evidence for the existence of 2 RA channels?
Altering the sensitivity of detection of vibration
Normally peak sensitivity Meissner’s 30Hz ish, Pascinian 300Hz (i.e. area at lowest threshold for dep)
Add local anaesthetic, increases threshold for Meissner’s as less deep in the skin
Stim for a while at high freq (for PC) or low freq (Meissner’s) –> adaptation of the relative frequency,
Which afferent is best at reading Braille? How do we know?
Merkel
Show on spatial event plots: AP evoked by Braille
What is the test of tactile acuity? What sets tactile acuity?
Two point limen
Receptive field size - if two points contacting the skin both stim the same receptive field, we have no information that two points on the skin were stimulated
Are there more warm or cold spots?
Cold, but different body areas have different proportions of cold and warm spots
What is the structure of thermoreceptors?
Unencapsulated nerve endings
What is spatial summation?
Many more receptors exist than there are responses, and it normally requires the simultaneous activation of many receptors to get the response
What are the different thermoreceptor channels? What are their afferents?
Hot = capsaicin/above 43 degrees channel Trpv1. Sub population of C fibres
Cold = menthol/below 25 degrees = Trpm8. Adelta and C fibres
There are more, overlapping to create a range
Explain paradoxical cold spots. What does this tell us?
When a heat stim of >45 degrees is applied to a single cold spot, feels cold.
Cold receptor has a parabola shaped sensitivity curve
Tells us that activity in the cold fibre is labelled line
Define labelled line
Activity in a fibre is experienced in the same way, irrespective of the physical nature of the stimulus
Our sensory experience is determined by the central connections of the neuron, not the stimulus that evoked the AP
What are nociceptors?
Pain fibres
Free nerve endings
How do you separate the different aspects of pain? Which fibres mediate each aspect?
- Early first pain - sharp. Adelta
2. Second dull pain - burning. C fibres
What do Adelta fibres mediate in sensation?
Cold, first component of pain
What do C fibres mediate in sensation?
Warm, cold, second component of pain
Most C fibres are polymodal and respond to thermal, strong mechanical and chemical stimuli (chilli peppers, acid)
Describe the different types of peripheral nerve
AalphaAbeta: 40-80m/s, myelinated large. Touch, proprioception
Adelta: 5-30m/s, thinly myelinated. Cold, stabbing pain
C: 0.5-2m/s unmyelinated. Warmth, itch, burning pain