Slowly Adapting Type I Afferents From the Sides and End of the Finger Respond to Stimuli on the Center of the Fingerpad
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia Bisley, James W., Antony W. Goodwin, and Heather E. Wheat. Slowly Adapting Type I Afferents From the Sides and End of the Finger Respond to Stimuli on the Center of the Fingerpad. J. Neurophysiol. 84...
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Published in | Journal of neurophysiology Vol. 84; no. 1; pp. 57 - 64 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Am Phys Soc
01.07.2000
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Melbourne,
Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
Bisley, James W.,
Antony W. Goodwin, and
Heather E. Wheat.
Slowly Adapting Type I Afferents From the Sides and End of the
Finger Respond to Stimuli on the Center of the Fingerpad. J. Neurophysiol. 84: 57-64, 2000. The
central part of the fingerpad in anesthetized monkeys was stimulated by
spheres varying in curvature indented into the skin. Responses were
recorded from single slowly adapting type I primary afferent fibers
(SAIs) innervating the sides and end of the distal segment of the
stimulated finger. Although these afferents had receptive field centers
that were remote from the stimulus, their responses were substantial.
Increasing the curvature of the stimulus resulted in an increased
response for most afferents. In general, responses increased most
between stimuli with curvatures of 0 (flat) and 80.6 m 1 , with further increases in curvature
having progressively smaller effects on the response. We calculated an
index of sensitivity to changes in curvature; this index varied widely
among the afferents but for most it was less than the index calculated
for afferents innervating the fingerpad in the vicinity of the
stimulus. Responses of all the SAIs increased when the contact force of
the stimulus increased. An index of sensitivity to changes in contact
force varied widely among the afferents but in all cases was greater than the index calculated for SAIs from the fingerpad itself. Neither
the curvature sensitivity nor the force sensitivity of an afferent was
related in any obvious way to the location of its receptive field
center on the digit. There was only a minor correspondence between an
afferent's sensitivity to force and its sensitivity to curvature. The
large number of afferents innervating the border regions of the digit
do respond to stimuli contacting the central fingerpad; they convey
some information about the curvature of the stimulus and substantial
information about contact force. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 0022-3077 1522-1598 |
DOI: | 10.1152/jn.2000.84.1.57 |