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PMID: 4974746 Published · ppublish English Journal Article

The structure and function of a slowly adapting touch corpuscle in hairy skin.

The Journal of physiology ·Vol. 200 ·No. 3 ·1969-02-00 ·Pages 763-96

Iggo A, Muir AR

Abstract

1. Slowly adapting cutaneous mechanoreceptors, in the cat and primates, have been studied by histological and neurophysiological methods.2. Each touch corpuscle is a dome-shaped elevation of the epidermis, whose deepest layer contains up to fifty specialized tactile cells.3. Nerve plates, enclosed by the tactile cell (Merkel cells), are connected to a single myelinated axon in the dense collagenous core of the corpuscle.4. The corpuscle generated > 1000 impulses/sec when excited by vertical surface pressure. The response was highly localized and showed a low mechanical threshold, the frequency being dependent upon the velocity and amplitude of the displacement. There was a period of rapid adaptation before a sustained response which might continue for > 30 min.5. A quantitative analysis of the responses to excitation by displacements of differing amplitude, velocity and duration is included.6. The discharge of touch corpuscle units evoked by a mechanical stimulus was temperature-sensitive, and was enhanced by a fall in skin temperature.

MeSH Terms
Adaptation, Physiological Animals Axons/physiology Cats Electrophysiology Hair/cytology Haplorhini Pressure Sensory Receptor Cells/cytology,physiology Skin Physiological Phenomena Temperature Time Factors Touch
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Iggo A
Muir A R
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41 references, click to expand
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Article Info
Journal
The Journal of physiology
Abbr.
J Physiol
ISSN
0022-3751
DOI
10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008721
Published
1969-02-00
Pages
763-96
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
0266262
PMCID
PMC1350526
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008721 PMC Full Text View journal details
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