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Peripheral nerve activity in response to heating the cat's skin
Author(s) -
Stolwijk Jan A. J.,
Wexler Ira
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009439
Subject(s) - saphenous nerve , skin temperature , hindlimb , chemistry , thermoreceptor , cutaneous nerve , peripheral , spinal cord , nociceptor , anatomy , nociception , biomedical engineering , medicine , receptor , biochemistry , psychiatry
1. The sensitivity of the cat hind‐limb skin to non‐noxious heating was studied. Neural activity was recorded with micro‐electrodes from intact multifibre fascicles of the saphenous nerve while the skin was actively heated or passively cooled. 2. Moderate warming from indifferent temperatures of 30–34° C to temperatures of 38–39° C produced a reduction in the total rate of firing of the integrated discharge. Firing picked up sharply again at skin temperatures above 39° C. A considerable fraction of the impulse activity elicited above 39° C was carried by C‐fibre afferents. 3. Prolonged heating to temperatures in excess of 45° C rendered the skin insensitive to further non‐noxious heating or to touch. 4. The neural response to a step increase in skin temperature consisted of a delayed overshoot and then a steady‐state level of firing. Steady‐state firing was proportional to the level of skin temperature. 5. Nerves whose C‐fibre input to the spinal cord had been selectively blocked showed a potentiation of the neural response to skin heating. 6. The sensitivity of hind‐limb skin to heating, as judged by the character of the multifibre discharge, appears similar to that reported for a highly warm‐sensitive region of the nose.