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E1 Nervous System + Pain > Somatosensory > Flashcards

Somatosensory Flashcards

1
Q

what is signal conduction in the nervous system?

A

conversion of external stimulus into electricity/chemical signals in the NS (occurs at level of sensory receptor)

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2
Q

what happens when a sensory receptor is stimulated?

A

stimulus transduction into the NS (ex pressure receptor pushed down when you touch something)

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2
Q

what is somatosensation?

A

provides us information about what is happening on the surface of our bodies and what is happening internally

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3
Q

what are the two somatosensory pathways?

A

touch and position
pain/temperature

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4
Q

what are mechanoreceptors?

A

senses light touch, pressure, vibration

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5
Q

what are Meissner corpuscles’ stimulus and function?

A

dynamic deformation (skin motion, sensation of rubbing hand on table and feeling it)
very adaptive, rapid adaption

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6
Q

what do Pacinian corpuscles detect and what their function?

A

vibration
rapid adaption

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7
Q

what do merkel cells detect? what is their speed?

A

indentation depth (hod hand to sand paper and feel it)
slow adaption

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8
Q

what do ruffini corpuscles detect?

A

stretch of the skin
slow adapt

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9
Q

what are some things mechanoreceptors cancode?

A

intensity, duration, location and modality of the stimulus

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10
Q

what mechanisms do mechanoreceptors use for intensity?

A

frequency code (how many action potentials are coming in from the sensory receptor being stimulated?)
population code (how many receptors are being stimulated)

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11
Q

what is adaption of duration of a stimulus?

A

process of minimizing sensation of certain sensations (like your cloths touching your skin all day)

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12
Q

what are slow adapting receptors good for?

A

touch discrimination and strech

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13
Q

what are fast adapting receptors good for?

A

motion and vibration

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14
Q

how do we encode for stimulus location?

A

somatic maps (similar to a dermatome)

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15
Q

what are receptive fields?

A

vary in size and density across the body more receptors in close proximity makes more specific reception

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16
Q

what is modality?

A

type or quantity of stimulus energy

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17
Q

what is specificity in encoding of motility?

A

different stimuli are detected by and go through different pathways

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18
Q

what is paresthesia?

A

usually painless and described as tingling or numbness skin crawling or itching (leg falling asleep when you sit on it wrong)

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18
Q

what is probilistic receptor specificity?

A

most sensory receptors are optimally sensitive to singe stimulus energy

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19
Q

what is anesthesia?

A

total loss of sensation

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20
Q

what is hypoesthesia?

A

reduced sense of touch or sensation

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21
Q

what pathway does info from touch travel on?

A

dorsal column / lateral lemniscus pathway

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22
Q

where does somatosensory info of the face travel?

A

trigeminal system

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23
Q

what pathway does pain/temp travel on?

A

anterolateral pathway / spinothalamic tract

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24
Q

where are the cell bodies first order neurons of the DCMl pathway?

A

dorsal root ganglia of spinal nerve, axon enters dorsal spinal cord

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25
Q

what dorsal columns does the DCMl pathway travel through and what is the difference between them?

A

fasciculus gracillis and cuneatis (C is upper bod, Gra is lower)

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26
Q

where do the first order neurons of the DCM terminate?

A

nuc gracills or cuneatus of lower medulla

27
Q

In the DCMI, Axons of second order neurons ascend to the _____ and synapse onto third order neurons in the ________

A

thalamus
ventral posterior lateral nucleus of the thalamus

28
Q

what are the second order neurons of DCMl called?

A

internal arcuate fibers (cross midline and travel as a path called medial lemniscus)

29
Q

DCML third order neurons project to the

A

primary somatosensory cortex in
the parietal lobe

30
Q

what is the somatosensoy cortex also know as?

A

A1

31
Q

in the trigeminal system neuron 1 Receives projections from mechanoreceptors in face and oral cavity.

THEN Travel to the _____ in the ____

A

Main Sensory Nucleus in the mid Pons

32
Q

in the trigeminal system Neuron #2 has Axons that project to _________

A

VPM of thalamus

33
Q

in the trigeminal system the third neurons project to

A

somatosensory cortex for perception of mechanical touch of face

34
Q

what is pain transmission called?

A

nociception

35
Q

what are nocieptors?

A

free nerve endings located in skin (superficial), bones, joints and blood vessels

36
Q

Transduction involves what?

A

ion channels on the thermoreceptor called Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels

Opening of channels on nerve ending depolarizes or hyperpolarizes sensory neuron (Na+ or K+)

36
Q

what are thermal receptors?

A

free nerve endings in the skin that respond to warmth or coolness (detect in diff temp ranges, work best at middle of each receptors range)

37
Q

what does the TRPV2 receptor detect?

A

noxious heat above 125

38
Q

what does TRPV1 detect?

A

heat/capsaicin above 109

38
Q

what does TRPV4 detect?

A

warmth (body heat and blood temp) above 77

39
Q

what does TRPV3 detect?

A

warmth above 88

40
Q

what des TRPM8 detect?

A

temps below 82

41
Q

what does TRPA1 detect?

A

noxious cold below 64

42
Q

what are the two clinical states of pain?

A

physiological pain (ex pain from injury)
neuropathic pain (cause pain from non pain events)

43
Q

what is neuropathic pain?

A

result from injury to the peripheral or central nervous system that causes permanent changes in circuit sensitivity and CNS connections.

44
Q

where is ceII body of the first order neuron of Anterolateral/ Spinothalamic Pathway

A

dorsal root ganglia just outside the spinal cord

45
Q

The whole dendrite/axon extension is what kind of fiber?

A

myelinated AD fiber or an unmyelinated C fiber

46
Q

in the aI/st The axon extends from the cell body in the DRG into the :

A

dorsal horn of the spinal cord, then travel approx. two vertebral levels

47
Q

Anterolateral/Spinothalamic Pathway, The first order neuron then synapses with secondary
neurons in the _________

A

substantia gelatinosa of Rolando

48
Q

Anterolateral/Spinothalamic Pathway, The spinothalamic tract has somatotopic organization.
meaning…

A

Its cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral components are arranged from most medial to most lateral
respectively

49
Q

Anterolateral/Spinothalamic Pathway, The axons decussate to the other side of the spinal
cord via the anterior white commissure to the
_________

A

anterolateral corner of the spinal cord.

50
Q

Anterolateral/Spinothalamic Pathway The axons of the second order neurons terminate in
the________ and synapse onto
third order neurons. From there, signals go to the primary somatosensory cortex, cingulate cortex, and insular cortex.

A

ventral posteriorlateral thalamus

51
Q

in the trigeminal path nerves synapse with second order neurons that mostly decussate and ascend in the ventral trigeminal thalamic tract to the _________________ to synapse with third order neurons to the face area of the SS cortex

A

ventral posterior medial nucleus of the thalamus

52
Q

what is the pain matrix in central processing?

A

many higher order centers of the brain receive pain input at the same time and are able to react based on it

53
Q

what role does S1 play in the pain matrix?

A

S1 informs pain intensity, modality, and location, but other brain region activities are more closely correlated to the experience of pain

54
Q

what does the anterior cingulate cortex do in pain processing?

A

part of the limbic
system involved in emotional learning

55
Q

what does the insula do in pain processing?

A

self-awareness, sense of self in pain, sense of visceral pain (gastric distension)

56
Q

what does the prefrontal cortex do in pain processing?

A

anticipation of pain
Activated during placebo effect with PAG

57
Q

what does periaqueductal grey do for pain processing?

A

important site of endogenous pain inhibition

58
Q

what is the PAG?

A

hub of pain inhibition
PAG stimulates noradrenergic,
serotonergic, and opioidergic producing sites, e.g. locus coeruleus (LC), raphe
nucleus, and RVM respectively

59
Q

what is allodynia?

A

pain produced by normally non painful stimui

60
Q

what is hyperalgesia?

A

heightened response to a pain (hot water feels extra hot when sunburnt)

61
Q

what is Peripheral sensitization?

A

Peripheral sensitization is a reduction in threshold and an increase in responsiveness of the peripheral ends of nociceptors (due to action of chems)

62
Q

how does Peripheral sensitization work?

A

-These chemicals can bind to receptors on the distal peripheral nerves and depolarize them closer to threshold

-Persistent stimulation can also lead to an increase in Na+ channel number and subtype, and TRP channels, resulting in stronger depolarization events

63
Q

what is Central sensitization

A

Central sensitization is an increase in the excitability of neurons within the central nervous system, either due to peripheral or central nerve damage and inflammation

64
Q

how does Central sensitization happen?

A

A burst of activity in nociceptors alters the strength of synaptic
connections between the nociceptor and the neurons of the spinal cord
(hyperalgesia)
* Low-threshold sensory fibers activated by light touch begin to activate
neurons in the spinal cord that normally only respond to noxious stimuli
(allodynia)

E1 Nervous System + Pain (5 decks)

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