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SENSITIVITY OF TOUCH CORPUSCLES IN VITAMIN A‐DEFICIENT RATS
Author(s) -
Hamann W. C.,
Lee N. B.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
quarterly journal of experimental physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.925
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1469-445X
pISSN - 0144-8757
DOI - 10.1113/expphysiol.1982.sp002636
Subject(s) - sensitivity (control systems) , vitamin , chemistry , anatomy , medicine , engineering , electronic engineering
Fifty percent of a population of thirty weanling rats were fed a vitamin A‐deficient diet. The remaining 50% were fed a control diet. In comparison with the control group, the rate of growth started to slow down in the vitamin A‐deficient animals around day 33. Single unit recordings were made from sensory nerve fibres supplying slowly adapting type I cutaneous mechano‐receptors (touch corpuscles). Touch corpuscles were stimulated repetitively with low force mechanical stimuli. Receptors in vitamin A‐deficient animals showed clearly reduced nervous responses compared with receptors in control animals. Most receptors remained responsive even after prolonged repetitive stimulation.