Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1975 Feb;245(1):63–80. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1975.sp010835

Stimulus-response functions of slowly adapting mechanoreceptors in the human glabrous skin area.

M Knibestöl
PMCID: PMC1330845  PMID: 1127614

Abstract

1. Single unit impluses were recorded from the ulnar and median nerves of awake human subjects with tungsten electrodes inserted percutaneously in the upper arm. 2. One hundred and one slowly adapting receptors with receptive fields in the glabrous skin area were studied. The units were classified as type SA-I and type SA-II largely on the basis of their responses to lateral stretching of the skin. Eighty-eight receptors did not respond to this type of stimulus (type SA-I), whereas thirteen receptors readily responded to stretching (type SA-II), AND OFTEN EXHIBITED DIRECTIONAL SENSITIVITY. 3. The SA-I receptors showed no spontaneous discharge, and the discharge pattern was mostly rather irregular, whereas most of the SA-II receptors had a spontaneous discharge, and a very regular discharge pattern. 4. The conduction velocities of the afferent were all in a A alpha range. The mean value for the SA-I receptors was 58-7 plus or minus 2-3m/sec, and for the SA-II receptors 45.3 plus or minus 3.6 m/sec. 5. The neural response to stimuli of varying skin indentation amplitudes was analyzed. The threshold for a dynamic response ranged for the SA-I receptors from 0.15 to 1.35 mm and for the SA-II receptors from 0.25 to 0.95 mm. The threshold for a static discharge ranged for the SA-I receptors from 0.25 to more than 2.0 mm and for the SA-II receptors from 0.55 to 1.65 mm. 6. The stimulus-response functions were analysed for 25 SA-I receptors and 2 SA-II receptors. A hyperbolic log tangent function was the best description when the neural response was defined as the total number of impluses evoked by a stimulus of 1 sec duration. When only the static part of this type of plot was analyzed, a power function was a very good description for many units, but other functions (linear, logarithmic exponential, log tanh) were equally good or better for many units. This was also the dase when the mean impulse frequency of the sustained discharge was defined as a measure of the neural response. These two latter types of plots were clearly negatively accelerating, the exponent of the power function being 0.66 (mean).

Full text

PDF
63

Selected References

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

  1. Brown A. G., Iggo A. A quantitative study of cutaneous receptors and afferent fibres in the cat and rabbit. J Physiol. 1967 Dec;193(3):707–733. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1967.sp008390. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burgess P. R., Petit D., Warren R. M. Receptor types in cat hairy skin supplied by myelinated fibers. J Neurophysiol. 1968 Nov;31(6):833–848. doi: 10.1152/jn.1968.31.6.833. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chambers M. R., Andres K. H., von Duering M., Iggo A. The structure and function of the slowly adapting type II mechanoreceptor in hairy skin. Q J Exp Physiol Cogn Med Sci. 1972 Oct;57(4):417–445. doi: 10.1113/expphysiol.1972.sp002177. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Harrington T., Merzenich M. M. Neural coding in the sense of touch: human sensations of skin indentation compared with the responses of slowly adapting mechanoreceptive afferents innvervating the hairy skin of monkeys. Exp Brain Res. 1970;10(3):251–264. doi: 10.1007/BF00235049. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Iggo A., Muir A. R. The structure and function of a slowly adapting touch corpuscle in hairy skin. J Physiol. 1969 Feb;200(3):763–796. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008721. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Iggo A., Ramsey R. L. Cortical progection of the Type I slowly adapting cutaneous afferent units. J Physiol. 1971;217 (Suppl):46P–47P. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kenton B., Kruger L., Woo M. Two classes of slowly adapting mechanoreceptor fibres in reptile cutaneous nerve. J Physiol. 1971 Jan;212(1):21–44. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009308. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Knibestöl M. Stimulus-response functions of rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors in human glabrous skin area. J Physiol. 1973 Aug;232(3):427–452. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1973.sp010279. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Knibestöl M., Vallbo A. B. Single unit analysis of mechanoreceptor activity from the human glabrous skin. Acta Physiol Scand. 1970 Oct;80(2):178–195. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1716.1970.tb04783.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kruger L., Kenton B. Quantitative neural and psychophysical data for cutaneous mechanoreceptor function. Brain Res. 1973 Jan 15;49(1):1–24. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(73)90398-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. MILLER M. R., RALSTON H. J., 3rd, KASAHARA M. The pattern of cutaneous innervation of the human hand. Am J Anat. 1958 Mar;102(2):183–217. doi: 10.1002/aja.1001020203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. MOUNTCASTLE V. B., POGGIO G. F., WERNER G. THE RELATION OF THALAMIC CELL RESPONSE TO PERIPHERAL STIMULI VARIED OVER AN INTENSIVE CONTINUUM. J Neurophysiol. 1963 Sep;26:807–834. doi: 10.1152/jn.1963.26.5.807. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Naka K. I. Computer assisted analysis of S-potentials. Biophys J. 1969 Jun;9(6):845–859. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(69)86422-2. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Naka K. I., Rushton W. A. S-potentials from colour units in the retina of fish (Cyprinidae). J Physiol. 1966 Aug;185(3):536–555. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1966.sp008001. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pubols L. M., Pubols B. H., Jr, Munger B. L. Functional properties of mechanoreceptors in glabrous skin of the raccoon's forepaw. Exp Neurol. 1971 May;31(2):165–182. doi: 10.1016/0014-4886(71)90185-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Tapper D. N. Behavioral evaluation of the tactile pad receptor system in hairy skin of the cat. Exp Neurol. 1970 Mar;26(3):447–459. doi: 10.1016/0014-4886(70)90141-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Vallbo A. B., Hagbarth K. E. Activity from skin mechanoreceptors recorded percutaneously in awake human subjects. Exp Neurol. 1968 Jul;21(3):270–289. doi: 10.1016/0014-4886(68)90041-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. WERNER G., MOUNTCASTLE V. B. NEURAL ACTIVITY IN MECHANORECEPTIVE CUTANEOUS AFFERENTS: STIMULUS-RESPONSE RELATIONS, WEBER FUNCTIONS, AND INFORMATION TRANSMISSION. J Neurophysiol. 1965 Mar;28:359–397. doi: 10.1152/jn.1965.28.2.359. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Zwislocki J. J. On intensity characteristics of sensory receptors: a generalized function. Kybernetik. 1973 Mar;12(3):169–183. doi: 10.1007/BF00289170. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES