AFFERENT IMPULSES IN CUTANEOUS SENSORY NERVES IN HUMAN SUBJECTS

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Abstract
In conscious human subjects, afferent impulses were recorded from thin preparations of the superficial branch of the radial nerve, when mechanical and thermal stimuli were applied to the skin. All multi-fiber preparations showed a steady discharge at indifferent temperatures and reacted to mechanical stimulation. Seventy percent were also sensitive to cooling, whereas warming caused an inhibition of the discharge. A great number of single A fibers were found which reacted only to mechanical stimulation of hair receptors or mechanoreceptors in the non-hairy skin. The thresholds for eliciting a single impulse in a single mechanosensitive fiber were the same as those for arousing a subjective touch sensation. Four single fibers responded to mechanical stimulation as well as to cooling, the dynamic sensitivity being lower than -5 imp./sec.[degree]C. One single fiber was excited only by cooling. At constant temperatures below 38[degree]C, a steady discharge was seen, with a maximum of 12 imp./sec below 20[degree]C. Sudden cooling led to a high increase in frequency, with a dynamic sensitivity of -46 imp./sec.[degree]C, whereas warming caused a transient inhibition of the steady discharge.

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