QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mei, J. Articles by Burgess, P. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mei, J. Articles by Burgess, P. R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 3, 2652-2659, Copyright © 1983 by Society for Neuroscience

ARTICLE

The neural signal for skin indentation depth. II. Steady indentations

J Mei, RP Tuckett, DA Poulos, KW Horch, JY Wei and PR Burgess

The glabrous skin of the monkey's hand was stimulated with a waveform that indented the skin at a rate of 0.4 mm/sec, held the skin steadily or nearly steadily indented for 12 sec or longer, and then retracted back to the starting position. Recordings were made of activity in single afferent fibers in response to these stimuli. The average discharge frequency of 21 slowly adapting mechanoreceptors declined 38% during the first 12 sec of a steady indentation when the amplitude of the displacement was 0.65 mm and 36% when the displacement was 1.3 mm. When the plateau was not steady but the indentation depth gradually decreased by 15% during the 12-sec plateau period, the average decline was 47% for the 0.65-mm indentation and 46% for the 1.3-mm stimulus. When the indentation depth gradually increased by 15% during the 12-sec plateau, the discharge declined an average of 26% during the 0.65-mm indentation and 22% during the 1.3-mm displacement. To determine the effect of receptor adaptation on the perception of skin indentation depth, 13 human subjects had the skin of their fingertips indented 1 mm with similar trapezoidal waveform and were asked whether the indentation depth increased or decreased during the plateau portion of the stimulus. Ten of the 13 subjects thought that the indentation depth was increasing when the plateau was steady. The method of limits was then used to determine how much the stimulus had to change for the subject to feel the depth during the plateau as unchanging; i.e., a "perceptual zero."(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. S. Khalsa, C. Zhang, and Y.-X. Qin Encoding of Location and Intensity of Noxious Indentation Into Rat Skin by Spatial Populations of Cutaneous Mechano-Nociceptors J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2000; 83(5): 3049 - 3061. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. S. Khalsa, R. M. Friedman, M. A. Srinivasan, and R. H. Lamotte Encoding of Shape and Orientation of Objects Indented Into the Monkey Fingerpad by Populations of Slowly and Rapidly Adapting Mechanoreceptors J Neurophysiol, June 1, 1998; 79(6): 3238 - 3251. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help