The increasing use of transgenic mice for the study of pain mechanisms necessitates comprehensive understanding of the murine somatosensory system. Using an in vivo mouse preparation, we studied response properties of tibial nerve afferent fibers innervating glabrous skin. Recordings were obtained from 225 fibers identified by mechanical stimulation of the skin. Of these, 106 were classed as A ...

Spitz nevus (SN) is predominantly distributed throughout the lower extremities, while an acral location rare. Since SN occasionally resembles clinicopathological presentation of malignant melanoma (MM), it presents a diagnostic challenge, especially on glabrous skin. Past reports suggest that several genetic aberrations are associated with specific subtypes melanocytic tumors. Immunohistochemis...

The present review of cutaneous sensory receptors begins with a consideration of free nerve endings (FNEs) that can be considered as sensory terminals evidencing the least structural specialization of the axon and associated cells. Using the criteria established by Kruger et al (1981), FNEs of both A delta and C fibers can be identified on the basis of ultrastructural characteristics that inclu...

Recordings from the representations of the glabrous digits in area 3b of the somatosensory cortex of owl and macaque monkeys revealed two types of neurons. Rapidly adapting (RA) neurons responded only at the onset and offset of a 1-s skin indentation. Slowly adapting (SA) neurons also responded to stimulus onset and offset but, in addition, they responded throughout the 1-s skin indentation. RA...

This paper presents a tactile transducer device that is optimized from biomechanical data and has a compact, yet modular design. The tactile transducer comprises a 6 × 10 piezo bimorph actuator array with a spatial resolution of 1.8 × 1.2 millimeters and a wide temporal bandwidth. The actuator mounting method was improved from a conventional cantilever method to a dual-pinned method, giving the...