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Cutaneous mechanoreceptors can also be separated into categories based on their rates of adaptation. When a mechanoreceptor receives a stimulus, it begins to fire impulses or action potentials at an elevated frequency (the stronger the stimulus, the higher the frequency).
Aδ fibers are characterized by thin axons and thin myelin sheaths, and are either D-hair receptors or nociceptive neurons. Aδ fibers conduct at a rate of up to 25 m/s. D-hair receptors have large receptive fields and very low mechanical thresholds, and have been shown to be the most sensitive of known cutaneous mechanoreceptors.
Tactile perception is achieved through the response of mechanoreceptors (cutaneous receptors) in the skin that detect physical stimuli. The response from a mechanoreceptor detecting pressure can be experienced as a touch, discomfort, or pain. [23] Mechanoreceptors are situated in highly vascularized skin, and appear in both glabrous and hairy skin.
The initialization of sensation stems from the response of a specific receptor to a physical stimulus. The receptors which react to the stimulus and initiate the process of sensation are commonly characterized in four distinct categories: chemoreceptors, photoreceptors, mechanoreceptors, and thermoreceptors.
Free nerve endings can detect temperature, mechanical stimuli (touch, pressure, stretch) or danger (nociception). Thus, different free nerve endings work as thermoreceptors, cutaneous mechanoreceptors and nociceptors. In other words, they express polymodality.
Stretch-activated ion channels are responsible for many bodily functions in mammals. In the skin they are responsible for sensing vibration, pressure sensation, stretch, touch, and light touch. [53] [54] They are expressed in sensory modalities including taste, hearing, smell, heat sensation, volume control, and vision.
Pallesthesia (\ˌpal-es-ˈthē-zh(ē-)ə\), or vibratory sensation, is the ability to perceive vibration. [1] [2] This sensation, often conducted through skin and bone, is usually generated by mechanoreceptors such as Pacinian corpuscles, Merkel disk receptors, and tactile corpuscles. [1]
In order for mechanical signals to be sensed, there need to be mechanoreceptors on the surface of chondrocytes. Candidates for chondrocyte mechanoreceptors include stretch-activated ion channels (SAC), [27] the hyaluronan receptor CD44, annexin V (a collagen type II receptor), [28] and integrin receptors (of which there exist several types on ...