Evidence for sparse C-tactile afferent innervation of glabrous human hand skin
Roger Holmes Watkins, Mariama Dione, Rochelle Ackerley, Helena Backlund Wasling, Johan Wessberg, Line S. Löken
Abstract
Human touch is encoded by low-threshold mechanoreceptors, including myelinated Aβ afferents and unmyelinated C-tactile (CT) afferents. CTs are abundant in hairy skin and are thought to code gentle, stroking touch that signals positive affective interactions. CTs have never been described in human glabrous skin, yet we show evidence of their existence on the hand, albeit at a relatively low density. Glabrous skin CTs may provide modulatory reinforcement of gentle tactile interactions during touch using the hands.
Topics & Concepts
MicroneurographyAnatomyMechanoreceptorAfferentHuman skinMedicineSensitive skinSensory systemNeurosciencePsychologyBiologyPathologyHeart rateBlood pressureRadiologyGeneticsBaroreflexTactile and Sensory InteractionsMultisensory perception and integrationAction Observation and Synchronization