Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1990 Apr;423:241–255. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1990.sp018020

Sympathetic discharges in the human supraorbital nerve and their relation to sudo- and vasomotor responses.

M Nordin 1
PMCID: PMC1189755  PMID: 2388150

Abstract

1. Sympathetic nerve activity occurring as bursts of multi-unit impulses was recorded with tungsten microelectrodes in the supraorbital nerve of awake healthy subjects. Within the fascicular innervation zone on the forehead, skin resistance was measured as an indicator of sweat gland activity, and skin blood flow was measured with laser-doppler flowmetry. 2. At room temperature, there was little or no background burst activity, but arousal stimuli or mental stress evoked bursts followed by a vasodilator response. Provided repeated arousal stimuli were delivered, individual bursts were followed by a decrease in skin resistance. 3. Body heating induced increasing background burst activity. After an initial period without associated electrodermal activity, there were decreases in skin resistance, which showed a positive linear correlation with the amplitude of the preceding burst. Individual bursts were followed by a vasodilator response with an average onset latency of 2.8 s and an average duration of 9.1 s, and rapid increases in blood flow coincided with a marked increase in burst activity. Arousal stimuli evoked bursts followed by both vasodilator and skin resistance responses. 4. During body cooling, there was no background burst activity, but signs of relatively weak, probably neurally mediated vasoconstriction were observed and arousal-evoked bursts were reduced or abolished, as were the associated vasodilator and skin resistance responses. 5. It is concluded that body heating induces active sympathetic vasodilatation in the skin of the human forehead, and that this is either sudomotor-mediated or caused by vasodilator fibres firing in synchrony with sudomotor fibres. A similar sympathetic mechanism probably underlies the vasodilator responses evoked by arousal stimuli and mental stress.

Full text

PDF
254

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bell C., Jänig W., Kümmel H., Xu H. Differentiation of vasodilator and sudomotor responses in the cat paw pad to preganglionic sympathetic stimulation. J Physiol. 1985 Jul;364:93–104. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1985.sp015732. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bini G., Hagbarth K. E., Hynninen P., Wallin B. G. Regional similarities and differences in thermoregulatory vaso- and sudomotor tone. J Physiol. 1980 Sep;306:553–565. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1980.sp013414. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bini G., Hagbarth K. E., Hynninen P., Wallin B. G. Thermoregulatory and rhythm-generating mechanisms governing the sudomotor and vasoconstrictor outflow in human cutaneous nerves. J Physiol. 1980 Sep;306:537–552. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1980.sp013413. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Blumberg H., Wallin B. G. Direct evidence of neurally mediated vasodilatation in hairy skin of the human foot. J Physiol. 1987 Jan;382:105–121. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1987.sp016358. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Drummond P. D., Lance J. W. Facial flushing and sweating mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. Brain. 1987 Jun;110(Pt 3):793–803. doi: 10.1093/brain/110.3.793. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. EDELBERG R., BURCH N. R. Skin resistance and galvanic skin response. Influence of surface variables, and methodological implications. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1962 Sep;7:163–169. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1962.01720030009002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. FOX R. H., GOLDSMITH R., KIDD D. J. Cutaneous vasomotor control in the human head, neck and upper chest. J Physiol. 1962 May;161:298–312. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1962.sp006887. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. FROESE G., BURTON A. C. Heat losses from the human head. J Appl Physiol. 1957 Mar;10(2):235–241. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1957.10.2.235. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fagius J., Wallin B. G. Sympathetic reflex latencies and conduction velocities in normal man. J Neurol Sci. 1980 Sep;47(3):433–448. doi: 10.1016/0022-510x(80)90098-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hagbarth K. E., Hallin R. G., Hongell A., Torebjörk H. E., Wallin B. G. General characteristics of sympathetic activity in human skin nerves. Acta Physiol Scand. 1972 Feb;84(2):164–176. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1972.tb05167.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hallin R. G., Torebjörk H. E. Single unit sympathetic activity in human skin nerves during rest and various manoeuvres. Acta Physiol Scand. 1974 Nov;92(3):303–317. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1974.tb05749.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Holloway G. A., Jr, Watkins D. W. Laser Doppler measurement of cutaneous blood flow. J Invest Dermatol. 1977 Sep;69(3):306–309. doi: 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12507665. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Johnson J. M., Taylor W. F., Shepherd A. P., Park M. K. Laser-Doppler measurement of skin blood flow: comparison with plethysmography. J Appl Physiol Respir Environ Exerc Physiol. 1984 Mar;56(3):798–803. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1984.56.3.798. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. LADER M. H., MONTAGU J. D. The psycho-galvanic reflex: a pharmacological study of the peripheral mechanism. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1962 May;25:126–133. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.25.2.126. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lang A. H. Skin D.C. potentials and the endosomatic galvanic skin reaction in the cat. Acta Physiol Scand. 1967 Mar;69(3):230–241. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1967.tb03517.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Nilsson G. E., Tenland T., Oberg P. A. Evaluation of a laser Doppler flowmeter for measurement of tissue blood flow. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 1980 Oct;27(10):597–604. doi: 10.1109/TBME.1980.326582. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Nordin M., Hagbarth K. E., Thomander L., Wallin U. Microelectrode recordings from the facial nerve in man. Acta Physiol Scand. 1986 Nov;128(3):379–387. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1986.tb07991.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Nordin M., Thomander L. Intrafascicular multi-unit recordings from the human infra-orbital nerve. Acta Physiol Scand. 1989 Feb;135(2):139–148. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1989.tb08561.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Oberle J., Elam M., Karlsson T., Wallin B. G. Temperature-dependent interaction between vasoconstrictor and vasodilator mechanisms in human skin. Acta Physiol Scand. 1988 Apr;132(4):459–469. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1988.tb08353.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Parkinson D., Johnston J., Chaudhuri A. Sympathetic connections to the fifth and sixth cranial nerves. Anat Rec. 1978 Jun;191(2):221–226. doi: 10.1002/ar.1091910207. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. RODDIE I. C., SHEPHERD J. T., WHELAN R. F. The contribution of constrictor and dilator nerves to the skin vasodilatation during body heating. J Physiol. 1957 May 23;136(3):489–497. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1957.sp005775. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Salerud E. G., Tenland T., Nilsson G. E., Oberg P. A. Rhythmical variations in human skin blood flow. Int J Microcirc Clin Exp. 1983;2(2):91–102. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Wallin B. G., Blumberg H., Hynninen P. Intraneural stimulation as a method to study sympathetic function in the human skin. Neurosci Lett. 1983 Apr 11;36(2):189–194. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(83)90263-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wallin B. G., Fagius J. Peripheral sympathetic neural activity in conscious humans. Annu Rev Physiol. 1988;50:565–576. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ph.50.030188.003025. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Physiological Society

RESOURCES