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On the adequate stimulus for rectal mechanoreception and perception: a study in cat and humans
Author(s) -
Thewißen,
Rühl,
Enck
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
neurogastroenterology and motility
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.489
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1365-2982
pISSN - 1350-1925
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2982.2000.00176.x
Subject(s) - mechanoreceptor , rectum , sensation , stimulus (psychology) , medicine , nociception , noxious stimulus , anatomy , reflex , audiology , stimulation , psychology , anesthesia , neuroscience , surgery , receptor , psychotherapist
The adequate stimulus that is specific for both rectal mechanoreceptor excitation and rectal perception is still undefined. Using a visual analogue scale, healthy male volunteer subjects rated the intensity of the non‐noxious ‘pressure’ sensation evoked by slow balloon‐induced distensions of the rectum. In a parallel study, the responses of spinal afferents originating from intramural mechanoreceptors of the rectum to the same stimulus were recorded in decerebrate cats. Both receptor activity and sensation intensity were linearly related to the diameter of the rectum, which is in turn a linear function of the tangential length of the rectal wall. In contrast, both saturated when expressed as a function of intrarectal pressure or rectal wall tension. It is concluded that the perception associated with rectal distensions in the non‐noxious range is mediated by intramural mechanoreceptors that linearly encode tangential wall length, and that the underlying information is linearly transmitted throughout the CNS.