scholarly journals Receptor encoding of moving tactile stimuli in humans. II. The mean response of individual low-threshold mechanoreceptors to motion across the receptive field

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 848-864 ◽  
Author(s):  
GK Essick ◽  
BB Edin
1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 1613-1618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven L. Jinks ◽  
E. Carstens

Jinks, Steven L. and E. Carstens. Spinal NMDA receptor involvement in expansion of dorsal horn neuronal receptive field area produced by intracutaneous histamine. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 1613–1618, 1998. Histamine elicits the sensation of itch at the site of skin application as well as alloknesis (itch elicited by innocuous mechanical stimuli) in a surrounding area in humans and expansion of the low-threshold mechanosensitive receptive field area of spinal wide dynamic range (WDR)-type dorsal horn neurons in rats. We presently tested if the histamine-evoked expansion of neuronal receptive field area depends on a spinal N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated process. In pentobarbital sodium–anesthetized rats, mechanical receptive field areas of single WDR-type dorsal horn neurons were mapped with graded von Frey filaments before and 10 min after intracutaneous (ic) microinjection of histamine (1 μl; 1, 3, or 10%) at a low-threshold site within the receptive field. Intracutaneous microinjection of histamine evoked dose-related increases in firing rate, as well as a dose-dependent expansion in mean receptive field area 10 min after 3 and 10%, but not 1%, histamine doses. When a noncompetitive or competitive NMDA receptor antagonist dizocilpine [MK-801; d(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV), respectively; 1 μM] was first applied topically to the surface of the spinal cord, there was no significant change in mean receptive field area after ic microinjection of 10% histamine. The mean neuronal response to histamine in the presence of spinal MK-801 or APV was not significantly different from the mean response to histamine in the absence of these drugs. These results suggest that spinal NMDA receptors are involved in histamine-induced expansion of mechanical receptive field area, a neural event possibly involved in the development of alloknesis.


1985 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1387-1400 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Yokota ◽  
N. Koyama ◽  
N. Matsumoto

Recordings were made from single thalamic units in the urethan-chloralose anesthetized cat. Altogether 2,905 trigeminal single units having a receptive field in the contralateral trigeminal integument were isolated from the somatosensory part of nucleus ventralis posteromedialis, or VPM proper. Each isolated unit was tested for responses to a series of mechanical stimuli. The stimuli included brushing the skin, touch, pressure, noxious pinch, and pinpricks. The majority of VPM proper units responded with the greatest discharge frequency to gentle mechanical stimulation: either hair movement or light pressure to the trigeminal integument, but 341 units were identified as trigeminal nociceptive units. They were partitioned into two functionally defined subclasses, nociceptive specific (NS) and wide dynamic range (WDR) units, but not intermingled with low-threshold mechanoreceptive (LTM) units. Both NS and WDR units were found at or near the margin of the VPM proper but not outside this nucleus. This marginal area was referred to as the shell region of the VPM proper. A total of 248 NS units was found within the shell region of the caudal third of the VPM proper. This part was called the NS zone. These units were somatotopically organized. In the rostral part of the NS zone, ophthalmic NS units having a receptive field in the contralateral ophthalmic division were located dorsolaterally, maxillary NS units occurred dorsomedially, and mandibular NS units were found ventromedially. In the caudal part of the NS zone, maxillary NS units were encountered in the dorsal shell region, whereas mandibular NS units were found in the ventromedial shell region. Ophthalmic NS units were not found in this part of the NS zone. Altogether 93 WDR units were encountered in the shell region of the VPM proper. They were confined to a narrow band approximately 300 micron wide just rostral to the NS zone. These units were somatotopically organized. Ophthalmic WDR units having a low-threshold center of the receptive field in the contralateral ophthalmic division were located dorsolaterally, maxillary WDR units were located dorsomedially, and mandibular WDR units were located ventromedially. The majority of maxillary as well as mandibular WDR units were activated by electrical stimulation of the contralateral maxillary and/or mandibular canine tooth pulp afferents. Both NS and WDR zones of the VPM proper extended into the shell region of the nucleus ventralis posterolateralis (VPL).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


1997 ◽  
Vol 186 (9) ◽  
pp. 1575-1583 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Charlotte Delibrias ◽  
J. Eike Floettmann ◽  
Martin Rowe ◽  
Douglas T. Fearon

We wish to identify developmental changes in germinal center B cells that may contribute to their rapid growth. SHP-1 is an SH2 domain–containing phosphotyrosine phosphatase that negatively regulates activation of B cells and other cells of hematopoietic lineages. We have found that in all 13 EBV-negative and 11 EBV-positive Burkitt lymphomas with a nonlymphoblastoid phenotype, the mean concentration of SHP-1 was reduced to 5% of that of normal B and T cells. The possibility that this diminished expression of SHP-1 was related to the germinal center phenotype of Burkitt lymphomas was supported by the low to absent immunofluorescent staining for SHP-1 in germinal centers, and by the inverse relationship between the concentration of SHP-1 and the expression of the germinal center marker CD38 on purified tonsillar B cells. In CD38-high B cells, SHP-1 concentration was 20% of that of mantle zone B cells from the same donor. This reduction in SHP-1 is comparable to that of cells from motheaten viable mev/mev mice in which there is dysregulated, spontaneous signaling by cytokine and antigen receptors. Therefore, germinal center B cells may have a developmentally regulated, low threshold for cellular activation.


1991 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 352-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Cohen ◽  
P. Sterling

1. We have investigated the anatomic basis for the Gaussian-like receptive field center of the on-beta ("X") ganglion cell in the area centralis of cat retina. Three adjacent on-beta cells were reconstructed from electron micrographs of 279 serial sections cut vertically through a patch of retina at approximately 1 degree eccentricity. 2. All the bipolar synapses on these cells were identified, and about one-half of these were traced to type b1 bipolar cells, which formed a regular array in the plane of the retina. 3. On average, seven b1 cells contributed to a beta cell: bipolar axons near the middle of the beta dendritic field tended to give many contacts (12-33 contacts); axons near the edge of the field tended to give few contacts (3-4 contacts). 4. Each b1 cell collected from four to seven cones, and the mean number of cones converging through the b1 array to a beta cell was 30. 5. Assuming equal effectiveness for all b1----beta cell synapses, a spatial weighting function was derived from these results. The mean radius of this function at 1/e amplitude for three beta cells was 18.0 +/- 1.1 (SD) microns. This is considerably narrower than the corresponding measurements of the beta cell receptive field center (28 +/- 3 microns) at this eccentricity. 6. It is concluded, in agreement with previous work, that all cones encompassed by the beta cell's dendritic field and those slightly beyond it connect directly to the beta cell via the b1 bipolar cell array. However, the center of the beta cell receptive field is still broader by approximately 60%. This suggests that pooling of cone signals may occur at the level of the outer plexiform layer.


1979 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 954-974 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Rosen ◽  
K. R. Weiss ◽  
I. Kupfermann

1. The cells of two clusters of small neurons on the ventrocaudal surface of each hemicerebral ganglion of Aplysia were found to exhibit action potentials following tactile stimuli applied to the skin of the head. These neurons appear to be mechanosensory afferents since they possess axons in the nerves innervating the skin and tactile stimulation evokes spikes with no prepotentials, even when the cell bodies are sufficiently hyperpolarized to block some spikes. The mechanosensory afferents may be primary afferents since the sensory response persists after chemical synaptic transmission is blocked by bathing the ganglion and peripheral structures in seawater with a high-Mg2+ and low-Ca2+ content. 2. The mechanosensory afferents are normally silent and are insensitive to photic, thermal, and chemical stimuli. A punctate tactile stimulus applied to a circumscribed region of skin can evoke a burst of spikes. If the stimulus is maintained at a constant forces, the mechanosensory response slowly adapts over a period of seconds. Repeated brief stimuli have little or no effect on spike frequency within a burst. 3. Approximately 81% of the mechanoafferent neurons have a single ipsilateral receptive field. The fields are located on the lips, the anterior tentacles, the dorsal portion of the head, the neck, or the perioral zone. Because many cells have collateral axons in the cerebral connectives, receptive fields elsewhere on the body are a possibility. The highest receptive-field density was associated with the lips. Within each area, receptive fields vary in size and shape. Adjacent fields overlap and larger fields frequently encompass several smaller ones. The features of some fields appear invariant from one animal to the next. A loose form of topographic organization of the mechanoafferent cells was observed. For example, cells located in the medial cluster have lip receptive fields, and most cells in the posterolateral portion of the lateral clusters have tentacle receptive fields. 4. Intracellular stimulation of individual mechanoafferents evokes short and constant-latency EPSPs in putative motor neurons comprising the identified B-cell clusters of the cerebral ganglion. On the basis of several criteria, these EPSPs appear to be several criteria, these EPSPs appear to be chemically mediated and are monosynaptic. 5. Repetitive intracellular stimulation of individual mechanoafferent neurons at low rates results in a gradual decrement in the amplitude of the EPSPs evoked in B cluster neurons. EPSP amplitude can be restored following brief periods of rest, but subsequent stimulation leads to further diminution of the response. 6. A decremented response cannot be restored by strong mechanical stimulation outside the receptive field of the mechanoafferent or by electrical stimulation of the cerebral nerves or connectives...


1975 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 572-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Applebaum ◽  
J. E. Beall ◽  
R. D. Foreman ◽  
W. D. Willis

A technique is described for recording from axons belonging to the spinothalamic tract of the monkey. The axons arose from cell bodies located within the spinal cord since the latency of orthodromic activation by afferents within the dorsal funiculus was short. The axons were antidromically activated from the ipsilateral diencephalon. The spectrum of conduction velocities indicates that the recordings favored large-diamter axons. However, all of the classes of spinothalamic tract units described from soma-dendritic recordings were represented in the sample. When the locations of the axons in the ventrolateral white matter were mapped, there was virtually complete overlap in the distributions of hair-activated, low-, and high-threshold spinothalamic tract axons, suggesting that the "lateral spinothalamic tract" conveys tactile, as well as pain and temperature, information. The only segregated population of axons were those belonging to units activated by receptors in deep tissues, including muscle. These were in a band along the ventral surface of the cord. The stimulus points for antidromically activating spinothalamic cells of axons were in the known diencephalic course of the spinothalamic tract, including the ventral posterior lateral nucleus. Stimulus point locations were similar for high-threshold and other categories of units. Receptive-field sizes were smaller for high-threshold spinothalamic cells or axons than for hair-activated or low-threshold units. Receptive-field size was correlated with position on the hindlimb. The smallest fields belonged to cells in lamina I, with progressively larger sizes for cells in laminae IV and V. Receptive-field shape was evaluated by the length/width ratio, which was smallest for high-threshold units and progressively larger for low-threshold and hair-activated units. The receptive-field positions of spinothalamic tract axons were related to the locations of the axons. There was a rough somatotopic representation in the tract, with the most caudal dermatomes represented dorsolaterally, and the most rostral ventromedially.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jørn Henrik Vold ◽  
Fatemeh Chalabianloo ◽  
Christer F. Aas ◽  
Else-Marie Løberg ◽  
Kjell Arne Johansson ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundContinuous use of amphetamines, alcohol, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, or opioids contributes to health impairments, increased morbidity, and overdose deaths among patients with substance use disorders (SUDs). This study evaluates the impact of inpatient detoxification, specialized opioid agonist therapy (OAT), and low-threshold municipality care on substance use over time. MethodsWe used data from a cohort of SUD patients in Norway through health assessments of self-reported substance use and sociodemographic and clinical factors. A total of 881 substance use measurements, including type and amount of substances, were assessed from 708 SUD patients in 2016-2020. Substance use for individual and total substances was calculated, creating a substance use severity index (SUSI) ranging from zero (no use) to one (daily use). We defined baseline as the first substance use measurement when the measurements were listed chronologically. Time was defined as years from baseline. We used a linear mixed model to analyze associations between the SUSI and inpatient detoxification, specialized OAT compared with low-threshold municipality care, as well as the factors like injecting substance use, gender, and age, presented with coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsNeither inpatient detoxification (mean SUSI change: 0.01, -0.03;0.04) nor specialized OAT (0.03, -0.09;0.14) compared with low-threshold municipality care were associated with changes in substance use over time. Patients who were over 60 years of age (mean SUSI difference: -0.06, -0.13;0.00) had a lower SUSI than those under 30 years of age, while patients who injected substances had a higher SUSI than those who did not inject substances (0.18, 0.15;0.20) at baseline. The mean SUSI for the individual substances were 0.50 (standard deviation (SD): 0.38) for cannabis, 0.40 (0.37) for benzodiazepines, 0.33 (0.34) for amphetamines and cocaine, 0.31 (0.29) for alcohol, and 0.22 (0.31) for opioids at baseline. The mean SUSI of all substances was 0.35 (0.20). Conclusion The present study demonstrates that neither inpatient detoxification nor specialized OAT compared to low-threshold municipality care were associated with changes in substance use over time. Future research needs to evaluate the impact on substance use and healthy survival of multiple health care interventions to this patient group.


1986 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 1187-1201 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. E. Renehan ◽  
M. F. Jacquin ◽  
R. D. Mooney ◽  
R. W. Rhoades

In Nembutal-anesthetized rats, 31 physiologically identified medullary dorsal horn (MDH) cells were labeled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Ten responded only to deflection of one or more vibrissae. Six cells were activated by guard hair movement only, six by deflection of guard hairs or vibrissa(e), and seven by pinch of facial skin with serrated forceps. Different classes of low-threshold cells could not be distinguished on the basis of their somadendritic morphologies or laminar distribution. Neurons activated by multiple vibrissae were unique, however, in that one sent its axon into the medial lemniscus, and three projected into the trigeminal spinal tract. None of the guard hair-only or vibrissae-plus-guard hair neurons had such projections. Cells that responded best to noxious stimulation were located mainly in laminae I, II, and deep V, while neurons activated by vibrissa(e) and/or guard hair deflection were located in layers III, IV, and superficial V. Low-threshold neurons generally had fairly thick dendrites with few spines, whereas high-threshold cells tended to have thinner dendrites with numerous spines. Moreover, the dendritic arbors of low-threshold cells were, for the most part, denser than those of the noxious cells. Neurons with mandibular receptive fields were located in the dorsomedial portion of the MDH; cells with ophthalmic fields were found in the ventrolateral MDH, and maxillary cells were interposed. Cells sensitive to deflection of dorsal mystacial vibrissae and/or guard hairs were located ventral to those activated by more ventral hairs. Neurons with rostral receptive fields were found in the rostral MDH, while cells activated by hairs of the caudal mystacial pad, periauricular, and periorbital regions were located in the caudal MDH. Receptive-field types were encountered that have not been reported for trigeminal primary afferent neurons: multiple vibrissae; vibrissae plus guard hairs; and wide dynamic range. The latter two can be explained by the convergence of different primary afferent types onto individual neurons. Our failure to find a significant relationship between dendritic area (in the transverse plane) and the number of vibrissae suggests that primary afferent convergence may not be responsible for the synthesis of the multiple vibrissae receptive field. Excitatory connections between MDH neurons may, therefore, account for multiple vibrissae receptive fields in the MDH.


1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 2296-2308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen E. Sherman ◽  
Lei Luo ◽  
Jonathan O. Dostrovsky

Sherman, Stephen E., Lei Luo, and Jonathan O. Dostrovsky. Altered receptive fields and sensory modalities of rat VPL thalamic neurons during spinal strychnine-induced allodynia. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 2296–2308, 1997. Allodynia is an unpleasant sequela of neural injury or neuropathy that is characterized by the inappropriate perception of light tactile stimuli as pain. This condition may be modeled experimentally in animals by the intrathecal (i.t.) administration of strychnine, a glycine receptor antagonist. Thus after i.t. strychnine, otherwise innocuous tactile stimuli evoke behavioral and autonomic responses that normally are elicited only by noxious stimuli. The current study was undertaken to determine how i.t. strychnine alters the spinal processing of somatosensory input by examining the responses of neurons in the ventroposterolateral thalamic nucleus. Extracellular, single-unit recordings were conducted in the lateral thalamus of 19 urethan-anaesthetized, male, Wistar rats (342 ± 44 g; mean ± SD). Receptive fields and responses to noxious and innocuous cutaneous stimuli were determined for 19 units (1 per animal) before and immediately after i.t. strychnine (40 μg). Eighteen of the animals developed allodynia as evidenced by the ability of otherwise innocuous brush or air jet stimuli to evoke cardiovascular and/or motor reflexes. All (3) of the nociceptive-specific units became responsive to brush stimulation after i.t. strychnine, and one became sensitive to brushing over an expanded receptive field. Expansion of the receptive field, as determined by brush stimulation, also was exhibited by all of the low-threshold mechanoreceptive units (14) and wide dynamic range units (2) after i.t. strychnine. The use of air jet stimuli at fixed cutaneous sites also provided evidence of receptive field expansion, because significant unit responses to air jet developed at 13 cutaneous sites (on 7 animals) where an identical stimulus was ineffective in evoking a unit response before i.t. strychnine. However, the magnitude of the unit response to cutaneous air jet stimulation was not changed at sites that already had been sensitive to this stimulus before i.t. strychnine. The onset of allodynia corresponded with the onset of the altered unit responses (i.e., lowered threshold/receptive field expansion) for the majority of animals (9), but the altered unit response either terminated concurrently with symptoms of allodynia (6) or, more frequently, outlasted the symptoms of allodynia (10) as the effects of strychnine declined. The present results demonstrate that the direct, receptor-mediated actions of strychnine on the spinal processing of sensory information are reflected by changes in the receptive fields and response properties of nociceptive and nonnociceptive thalamic neurons. These changes are consistent with the involvement of thalamocortical mechanisms in the expression of strychnine-induced allodynia and, moreover, suggest that i.t. strychnine also produces changes in innocuous tactile sensation.


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