Tactile stimulation of the hand evokes highly precise and repeatable patterns of activity in mechanoreceptive afferents; the strength (i.e., firing rate) and timing of these responses have been shown to convey stimulus information. To achieve an understanding of the mechanisms underlying the representation of tactile stimuli in the nerve, we developed a two-stage computational model consisting ...

Vehicle drivers receive tactile feedback from steering-wheel vibration that depends on the frequency and magnitude of the vibration. From an experiment with 12 subjects, equivalent comfort contours were determined for vertical vibration of the hands at two positions with three grip forces. The perceived intensity of the vibration was determined using the method of magnitude estimation over a ra...

1 2 3 A simple model of mechanotransduction in primate glabrous skin 4 5 Running title: A simple model of mechanotransduction in primate glabrous skin 6 7 8 9 Yi Dong1,2, Stefan Mihalas1, Sung Soo Kim1,2,3, Takashi Yoshioka1, Sliman Bensmaia4‡, and 10 Ernst Niebur1,2 11  12 1 Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 13 2 Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuro...

We investigated experience-dependent plasticity of somatosensory maps in rat S1 cortex during early development. We analyzed both short- and long-term effects of exposure to 2G hypergravity (HG) during the first 3 postnatal weeks on forepaw representations. We also examined the potential of adult somatosensory maps for experience-dependent plasticity after early HG rearing. At postnatal day 22,...

Given differences in sympathetic innervation to glabrous and nonglabrous skin, we tested the hypothesis that muscle metaboreceptor regulation of cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) differs between these skin regions. Subjects (n = 21) performed isometric handgrip exercise (IHG; 50% maximal voluntary contraction for 60 s), followed by 2 min of postexercise ischemia. Throughout IHG and postexerc...

Just as for any other sensory system, researchers have long wanted to discriminate between the discriminative and hedonic aspects of tactile perception. Supporting such a distinction, have, in recent decades, uncovered existence dedicated system receptors hairy skin (C-Tactile, CT, afferents) that appear be preferentially tuned pleasant stroking (i.e. caressing) touch. No matter what kind touch...

I. Ringworm fungi. This is a very large class, but we need refer only to the following types:(a) Microspora. (b) Trichophyta. (c) Achoria. (d) Epidermophyta. The microspora have small spores in mosaic arrangement, and are found in profusion on the hair surface. They are responsible for most of the scalp ringworm in this country, and are ,either conveyed by human infection (M. audouini-the large...

The perception of touch is complex and there has been a lack of ways to describe the full tactile experience quantitatively. Guest et al. (2011) developed a Touch Perception Task (TPT) in order to capture such experiences, and here we used the TPT to examine differences in sensory and emotional aspects of touch at different skin sites. We compared touch on three skin sites: the hairy arm and ch...

Insulation reduces heat exchange between a body and the environment. Glabrous (nonhairy) skin surfaces (palms of the hands, soles of the feet, face, and ears) constitute a small percentage of total body surface area but contain specialized vascular structures that facilitate heat loss. We have previously reported that cooling the glabrous skin surfaces is effective in alleviating heat stress an...