immunoglobulin, the clinical skin severity scores were lower in FcRg-/NC/Tnd mice by half than in conventional WT mice. On the other hand, there were no differences in both scratching behavior elicited by dermatitis and Th1/Th2 cytokine production between 2 groups of mice. In the skin lesion of FcRg null mice, mild epidermal hyperplasia and immune cell infiltration were observed. Particularly, ...

The shortand longer-term effectiveness of a brief, multidisciplinary itch-coping group training scheme in adults with atopic dermatitis was evaluated. Clinical severity scores (Eczema Area and Severity Index) and validated self-report measures were obtained in a waitinglist control condition (n = 30) and a treatment condition (n = 61) at preand post-treatment and in the treatment condition at 3...

We present for the first time direct electrophysiological evidence of the phenomenon of traveling electrical waves produced by populations of interneurons within the spinal cord. We show that, during a fictive rhythmic motor task, scratching, an electrical field potential of spinal interneurons takes the shape of a sinuous wave, "sweeping" the lumbosacral spinal cord rostrocaudally with a mean ...

Chronic itch is a debilitating condition that affects one in 10 people. Little is known about the molecules that mediate chronic itch in primary sensory neurons and skin. We demonstrate that the ion channel TRPA1 is required for chronic itch. Using a mouse model of chronic itch, we show that scratching evoked by impaired skin barrier is abolished in TRPA1-deficient animals. This model recapitul...

Itch is thought to be signaled by pruritogen-responsive neurons in the superficial spinal dorsal horn. Many neurons here express the substance P NK-1 receptor. We investigated whether neurotoxic destruction of spinal NK-1-expressing neurons affected itch-related scratching behavior. Rats received intracisternal substance P conjugated to saporin (SP-SAP), or saporin (SAP) only (controls), and we...

The usual interlimb coordination pattern during fictive rostral scratching in turtles is 1:1 coordination. We describe an example in a turtle of 2:1 coordination during fictive rostral scratching in which there were two cycles of ipsilateral hip flexor activity during each cycle of contralateral hip extensor activity. During 2:1 coordination, there were fluctuations in the ipsilateral hip flexo...

This article presents a mathematical model for generating annoying scratching sounds. Such sounds are generated by frictional motion and have been attributed to the chaotic nature of the frequency spectrum thereby produced. The proposed model is based on the logistic map and is modified to have the stick-slip property of a frictional vibration. The resulting sound is similar to that generated b...