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General Organization of Somatosensory System the Somatosensory System Is Composed of the Neurons That Make Sensing Touch, Temperature, and Position in Space Possible

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General Organization of Somatosensory System the Somatosensory System Is Composed of the Neurons That Make Sensing Touch, Temperature, and Position in Space Possible Somatosensory System Boundless General Organization of Somatosensory System The somatosensory system is composed of the neurons that make sensing touch, temperature, and position in space possible. 1. fig. 1 shows a dorsal root ganglion Sensory nerves of a dorsal root ganglion are depicted entering the spinal cord. Our somatosensory system consists of primary, secondary, and tertiary neurons. Sensory receptors housed in dorsal root ganglia project to secondary neurons of the spinal cord that decussate and project to the thalamus or cerebellum. Tertiary neurons project to the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe, forming a sensory humunculus. A sensory homunculus maps sub-regions of the cortical poscentral gyrus to certain parts of the body. Decussate: Where nerve fibers obliquely cross from one lateral part of the body to the other. Postcentral Gyrus: A prominent structure in the parietal lobe of the human brain and an important landmark that is the location of the primary somatosensory cortex, the main sensory receptive area for the sense of touch. Thalamus: Either of two large, ovoid structures of gray matter within the forebrain that relay sensory impulses to the cerebral cortex. Source URL: https://www.boundless.com/physiology/peripheral-nervous-system-pns/somatosensory-system/ Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/courses/psych402/ Attributed to: [Boundless] www.saylor.org Page 1 of 16 2. fig. 2 shows the sensory homunculus of the human brain 3. fig. 3 shows the sagittal MRI of the human brain The thalamus is marked by a red arrow in this MRI cross-section. Our somatosensory system is distributed throughout all major parts of our body. It is responsible for sensing touch, temperature, posture, limb position, and more. It includes both sensory receptor neurons in the periphery - skin, muscle and organs, for example - and deeper neurons within the central nervous system. Structure: A somatosensory pathway will typically consist of three neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. In the periphery, the primary neuron is the sensory receptor that detects sensory stimuli like touch or temperature. The cell body of the primary neuron is housed in the dorsal root ganglion of a spinal nerve Figure 0 or, if sensation is in head or neck, ganglia of the trigeminal or cranial nerves. The secondary neuron acts as a relay and is located in either the spinal cord or the brain stem. This neuron's ascending axons will cross, or decussate, to the opposite side of the spinal cord or brainstem and travel up the spinal cord to the brain where most will terminate in either the thalamus Figure 2 or the cerebellum. In the case of touch, the Source URL: https://www.boundless.com/physiology/peripheral-nervous-system-pns/somatosensory-system/ Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/courses/psych402/ Attributed to: [Boundless] www.saylor.org Page 2 of 16 tertiary neuron has its cell body in the thalamus and projects to the parietal lobe of the brain. In the case of the maintenance of posture, the tertiary neuron is located in the cerebellum. Processing: The primary somatosensory area of the human cortex is located in the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe. The postcentral gyrus is the location of the primary somatosensory area, the area of the cortex dedicated to the processing of touch information. Like other sensory areas, at this location there is a map of sensory space referred to as a sensory homunculus: sub-regions of the poscentral gyrus map to certain parts of the body as illustrated in Figure 1, and the surface area of cortex dedicated to a body part correlates with the amount of somatosensory input from that area. For example, there is a large area of cortex devoted to sensation in our hands, while our back claims a much smaller area. Somatosensory information involved with proprioception and posture is processed in a different part of the brain: the cerebellum. Tactile Sensation Touch is sensed by mechanoreceptive neurons that respond to pressure in various ways. 4. fig. 4 shows an illustration of a pacinian corpuscle, with its system of capsules and central cavity. Source URL: https://www.boundless.com/physiology/peripheral-nervous-system-pns/somatosensory-system/ Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/courses/psych402/ Attributed to: [Boundless] www.saylor.org Page 3 of 16 Our sense of touch, or tactile sensation, is mediated by cutaneous mechanoreceptors located in our skin. There are four main types of cutaneous mechanoreceptors: Pacinian corpuscles, Meissner's corpuscles, Merkel's discs, and Ruffini endings. Cutaneous mechanoreceptors can be categorized by morphology, by what kind of sensation they perceive and by the rate of adaptation. Furthermore, each has a different receptive field. Pacinian Corpuscle: Nerve endings in the skin responsible for sensitivity to vibration and pressure. Ruffini Ending: A class of slowly adapting mechanoreceptor thought to exist only in the glabrousdermis and subcutaneous tissue of humans. Merkel's Disc: Mechanoreceptors found in the skin and mucosa of vertebrates that provide touch information regarding pressure and texture to the brain. 5. fig. 5 shows an illustration of a Ruffini nerve ending which is a touch and temperature sensitive receptor in our skin. A mechanoreceptor is a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. Normally there are four main types in glabrous skin: Pacinian corpuscles, Meissner's corpuscles, Merkel's discs, and Ruffini endings. There are also mechanoreceptors in hairy skin. The hair cells in the cochlea are the most sensitive mechanoreceptors, transducing air pressure waves into nerve signals sent to the brain. In the periodontal ligament, there are some mechanoreceptors, which allow the jaw to relax when biting down on hard objects; the mesencephalic nucleus is responsible for this reflex. Cutaneous mechanoreceptors are located in the skin, like other cutaneous receptors. They are all innervated by Aβ fibers, except the mechanorecepting freenerve endings, which are innervated by Aδ fibers. They can be categorized by morphology, by what kind of sensation they perceive Source URL: https://www.boundless.com/physiology/peripheral-nervous-system-pns/somatosensory-system/ Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/courses/psych402/ Attributed to: [Boundless] www.saylor.org Page 4 of 16 and by the rate of adaptation. Furthermore, each has a different receptive field. Ruffini's end organs detect tension deep in the skin Figure 1. Meissner's corpuscles detect changes in texture (vibrations around 50 Hz) and adapt rapidly. Pacinian corpuscles detect rapid vibrations (about 200–300 Hz) Figure 0. Merkel's discs detect sustained touch and pressure. Mechanoreceiving free nerve endings detect touch, pressure and stretching Hair follicle receptors are located in hair follicles and sense position changes of hairs. Cutaneous mechanoreceptors provide the senses of touch, pressure, vibration, proprioception, and others. Lamellar corpuscles or Pacinian corpuscles are one of the four major types of mechanoreceptors. They are nerve endings in the skin, responsible for sensitivity to vibration and pressure. Vibrational role may be used to detect surface, e.g., rough vs. smooth. The Bulbous corpuscle or Ruffini ending or Ruffini corpuscle is a class of slowly adapting mechanoreceptors thought to exist only in the glabrous dermis and subcutaneous tissue of humans. It is named after Angelo Ruffini. This spindle-shaped receptor is sensitive to skin stretch, and contributes to the kinesthetic sense of and control of finger position and movement. It is believed to be useful for monitoring slippage of objects along the surface of the skin, allowing modulation of grip on an object. Ruffini endings are located in the deep layers of the skin, and register mechanical deformation within joints, more specifically angle change, with a specificity of up to two degrees, as well as continuous pressure states. They also act as thermoreceptors that respond for a long time, so in case of deep burn there will be no pain as these receptors will be burned off. Meissner's corpuscles (or tactile corpuscles) are a type of mechanoreceptor. They are a type of nerve ending in the skin that is responsible for sensitivity to light touch. In particular, they have highest sensitivity (lowest threshold) when sensing vibrations lower than 50 hertz. They are rapidly adaptive receptors. Merkel nerve endings are mechanoreceptors found in the skin and mucosa of vertebrates that provide touch information to the brain. The information they provide are those regarding pressure and texture. Each ending consists of a Merkel cell in close apposition with an enlarged nerve terminal. This is sometimes referred to as a Merkel cell–neurite complex, or a Merkel disk receptor. A single afferent nerve fiber branches to innervate up to 90 such endings. They are classified as slowly adapting type I mechanoreceptors. Source URL: https://www.boundless.com/physiology/peripheral-nervous-system-pns/somatosensory-system/ Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/courses/psych402/ Attributed to: [Boundless] www.saylor.org Page 5 of 16 Proprioceptive Sensations Proprioception refers to the sense of knowing how one’s body is positioned in three-dimensional space. 6. fig. 6 shows a human brain, with the cerebellum colored in purple. The cerebellum is largely responsible for coordinating the unconscious aspects of proprioception. Proprioception is the sense of the position of parts of our body and force being generated during movement. Proprioception relies on two, primary stretch receptors: Golgi tendon organs andmuscle spindles. Muscle spindles are sensory receptors within the belly of a muscle, which primarily detect changes in the length of this muscle. They convey length information to the central nervous system via sensory neurons. This information can be processed by the brain to determine the position of body parts. The Golgi organ (also called Golgi tendon organ, tendon organ, neurotendinous organ, or neurotendinous spindle), is a proprioceptive sensory receptor organ that is located at the insertion of skeletal muscle fibers into the tendons of skeletalmuscle.
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