| 1. |
- Edin, Benoni B, et al.
(författare)
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Receptor encoding of moving tactile stimuli in humans. I. Temporal pattern of discharge of individual low-threshold mechanoreceptors.
- 1995
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Ingår i: Journal of Neuroscience. - 0270-6474 .- 1529-2401. ; 15:1 Pt 2, s. 830-847
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The response of 70 cutaneous, low-threshold mechanoreceptors in the human median, radial and inferior alveolar nerves to well controlled brush stimuli moving across the receptive field was quantitatively studied. Microneurography was used to obtain the response of each to multiple velocities from 0.5 to 32 cm/sec in at least two opposing directions. A high degree of response consistency was observed from the slowly adapting receptors to replication of the same stimulus and to a lesser, but significant degree from the fast adapting receptors. The evoked discharge reflected up to three partially overlapping phases of the moving stimulus: skin compression, indentation, and stretch. Although the overall discharge rate increased with both stimulus velocity and force, the spatial discharge pattern was preserved to a high degrees. In contrast, the discharge patterns differed for opposing and orthogonal directions. Reducing the area of skin surrounding the receptive field that was contacted by the moving stimuli had little effect on the evoked response. Individual mechanoreceptors display highly reliable differences to brush stimuli moving at different velocities. to brush stimuli moving at different velocities. Moreover, different directions of movement evoke differences in the discharge that are consistently observed upon replication of the same stimuli. Despite the richness and consistency in the spatial discharge pattern displayed by individual receptors, it is argued that the details of the patterns are not likely used by the CNS to infer information about direction and velocity of movement across the skin. Rather, the intensity of discharge is proposed as a plausible information-bearing attribute of the stimulus-evoked response.
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| 2. |
- Essick, G K, et al.
(författare)
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Receptor encoding of moving tactile stimuli in humans. II. The mean response of individual low-threshold mechanoreceptors to motion across the receptive field.
- 1995
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Ingår i: Journal of Neuroscience. - 0270-6474 .- 1529-2401. ; 15:1, s. 848-864
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The mean firing rate evoked in 70 cutaneous, low-threshold mechanoreceptors in the human median, radial, and inferior alveolar nerves by stimulus motion across the skin was quantitatively studied. Moving stimuli, controlled for velocity, direction, and length of skin traversed, were provided by a servo-controlled motor that carried a brush across the receptive field. Each unit was studied with stimuli delivered at multiple velocities from 0.5 to 32 cm/sec in at least two opposing directions. A power function provided an excellent description of the MFR-versus-velocity relationship. The exponent n was interpreted to reflect the receptor's sensitivity to changes in stimulus velocity, and the multiplicative constant c, the predicted response to stimuli moving at 1.0 cm/sec. The fast adapting mechanoreceptors exhibited higher sensitivity to stimulus velocity than the slowly adapting mechanoreceptors. The mean velocity at which the fast adapting units were predicted to first respond to movement was also higher. Estimates of n, c, or both differed significantly for stimuli delivered in opposing directions for more than 70% of the mechanoreceptors. No direction of motion consistently led to power function parameters with higher values so as to suggest a "preferred" regional direction of motion for the entire population. Neither the directional difference in n nor c could be attributed to directional differences in the forces applied across the receptive fields. These findings suggest that information about velocity and direction is represented in the mean firing rate responses evoked in the population of mechanoreceptors activated by a moving tactile stimulus.
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