Merkel cell-neurite complexes are specialized mechanosensory end organs that mediate discriminative touch sensation. It is well established that type I slowly adapting (SAI) mechanoreceptors, which express neural filament heavy chain (NFH), innervate Merkel cells. It was previously shown that neurotrophic factor NT3 and its receptor TrkC play crucial roles in controlling touch dome Merkel cell ...

Stochastic resonance (SR) is commonly understood to be the enhancement, by noise, of the response of a system to a weak input signal. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the occurrence of SR in spinal and cortical evoked field potentials (EFPs) elicited by periodic tactile stimuli in the anesthetized cat. The electrodes were positioned in spinal and cortical somatosensory regions in which ...

To determine the state of functional development in the newborn kitten's somatic sensory system, the organization of mechanoreceptive projections to the sensorimotor cortex was compared to that of the adult cat. Microelectrode mapping procedures were used. Projections from all contralateral body surfaces to the primary somatomotor cortex (Sml ) are present at birth and respond to mechanical sti...

The ability to accurately localize both tactile and painful sensations on the body is one of the most important functions of the somatosensory system. Most accounts of localization refer to the systematic spatial relation between skin receptors and cortical neurons. The topographic organization of somatosensory neurons in the brain provides a map of the sensory surface. However, systematic dist...

Affective touch is a dynamic process. In this fMRI study we investigated affective touch by exploring its effects on overt behavior. Arm and palm skin were stroked with a soft brush at five different velocities (0.3, 1, 10, 3, and 30 cm s(-1)), using a novel feedback-based paradigm. Following stimulation in each trial, participants actively chose whether the caress they would receive in the nex...

Recordings from single peripheral nerve fibres made it possible to analyse the functional properties of tactile afferent units supplying the glabrous skin of the human hand and to assess directly the relation between impulse discharge and perceptive experiences. The 17,000 tactile units in this skin area of the human hand are of four different types: two fast adapting types, FA I and FA II (for...

The plant grows all over Jndia as a common creeping troublesome weed, and is especially abundant during the rains. It belongs to the natural order Nyctagineae. The roots are stout and fuciform and have a bitter and nauseous taste. From the root numerous stems 2 to 3 feet long, slender, and covered with mir"'? Vi^irc ^re eiven off T*y? stem is often viscid, glabrous; the leaves are thick, arrang...