Per

ipher
almechanosensor
yrecept
ors

Lastr
evi
ewed:
Febr
uar
y04,
2020

Peripheralmechanor ecept orsar esmal l

struct
uresf oundi ntheskinandot herorgansthat
detectdisplacement , v
eloci ty
, andaccelerati
onoft heski nandinternalor
gans.Theypr ovi
de
i
nfor mationaboutt hel ocat i
on, durati
on,andintensityofast imul
us.Thebr ainperceiv
esthese
sti
mul iaspr essur
e, stretching, orvibr
ati
ons.Mechanor eceptorsarev i
tal
forav ari
etyof
purposessuchassoci al interacti
ons,manual dexterity(gri
pcontrolandtool use),
and
l
ocomot i
on( playi
ngspor ts).

Funct i
onall
y,mechanor ecept
orscanbet houghtofasdendr itesforsensoryneurons.Distorti
ng
thest r
uctureofthemechanor ecept orcr
eatesanact i
onpot entiali
nthesensoryneur onwhi ch
willter
minatei nthedor salhornoft hespinalcor
d.From there,impulsesarerelayedtot he
thalamust hroughei t
hert hedorsalcolumnpat hway(orpost eri
orcolumnpat hway )orthe
spinothal
ami ctract.Thedor salcolumnpat hwayr el
aysf
inet ouchsensat i
onsandt he
spinothal
ami ctractrelayscrudet ouchandpai ninfor
mati
on.Toget her
,theyrel
ay
somat osensoryinformat iontothebr ai
n.

Cont
ent
s

Fr
eener
veendi
ngs

Adapt
ati
on

Sl
owl
yadapt
ingr
ecept
ors

Mer
kel
ner
veendi
ng(
Mer
kel
’
sdi
scs)

Ruf
fi
niendi
ngsorcor
puscl
e(bul
bouscor
puscl
e)

Rapi
dlyadapt
ingr
ecept
ors

Hai
rfol
l
icl
erecept
ors

Paci
niancor
puscl
es(
lamel
l
arcor
puscl
es)

Mei
ssner
’scor
puscl
es(
tact
il
ecor
puscl
es)

Locat
ionoft
her
ecept
ors

Hi
ghl
i
ght
s
Rel
ateddi
agr
amsandi
mages

+Showal
l

Fr
eener
veendi
ngs

Freenerveendi ngsarethemostcopi ousmechanor eceptorsfoundi ntheepi der

mi s.Theyare
madeupofbr anchedterminiofsensor yfiber
s.Theyt ypical
lyhavemi nimal ornoSchwanncel ls
aroundtheirfibers.Fr
eenerveendi ngsar eunspeci ali
zedandcanf unctionasnoci receptors
(r
espondt opai n),mechanoreceptors(respondt odi splacement )
,orthermor eceptors( r
espond
totemper atur
e) .Fr
eenerveendingscanf uncti
oni ndependent lyintheski normaybe
accompani edbyaccessor ystruct
ur estof orm speciali
zedr eceptor
swhi chwi l
lbedescribedin
mor edetailbelow.

Recommendedv
ideo:
Per
ipher
almechanor
ecept
ors

Hi
stol
ogyoft
heper
ipher
almechanor
ecept
ors.

Adapt
ati
on

Adaptati
onisthet endencyforar eceptortorespondlessstrongl
ytoasust ainedst i
mulus.The
rateofadaptati
oni sacharacter
isticoftheuniquestructur
alquali
ti
esofdifferentsensory
recept
ors.Slowlyadapt i
ngreceptors,t
hoset hatadaptli
ttl
etoasustai
nedst imulus, ar
esuited
topercei
vinganunchangi ngstimulussuchaspr essureandstret
ch.Conversely,rapidl
y
adapti
ngreceptorsadaptqui cklyandr espondtomov ementorchangeofast i
mul us.Rapi
dly
adapti
ngreceptorsper cei
vevibrati
onsorqui cktouches.Bothwil
lbediscussedf urtherint
he
foll
owingparagraphs.

Sl
owl
yadapt
ingr
ecept
ors

Mer
kel
ner
veendi
ng(
Mer
kel
’
sdi
scs)

Merkel
cel
l
s( epi
thel
ial
t act
il
ecell
s)ar
elocatedinthestr
atum basal
eoftheepi
der
misi
nregi
ons
oft
hebodyrequi
ringhighlyacut
esensit
ivi
ty.Forexampl
e,Merkelcel
lsar
ecommonintheti
ps
ofthefi
ngers.Theirsmallr
ecepti
vefi
eldsmaket hem well
suit
edf orrespondingtofi
netouch.
Desmosomesbi ndMer kelcel
lstoneighbor
ingkerati
nocyt
es.Neurosecretorygranul
esprovi
de
anident
ify
ingfactorwhenv i
ewedunderami cr
oscope.Merkelcel
lsaretightl
yassociat
edwith
fr
eenerveendingsi nt
hebasal l
amina.Thecombi nat
ionofaMer kelcellandafreenerveendi
ng
i
sreferr
edtoasaMer kelnerv
eendingordisc.

TheMer keldiscissensiti
vet
odi spl
acementoft heskin;perceivedaspr essur
e.Recentresearch
hasclar
ifi
edt hefuncti
onofMer kelcell
sint hi
spr ocess.Displacementoft heskin
si
multaneousl yt
ri
ggersanact i
onpot ent
ialinthef r
eenerv eendingoft hediscandt heopeni
ng
ofspeci
ficmembr anechannelsoftheMer kelcell.Neurotransmi t
ter
sreleasedthroughtheopen
channel
st r
iggersustainedfi
ri
ngoft henerveendi ng.WithoutaMer kelcell
,di
splacementofthe
ski
nwoul dbeper ceiv
edasl i
ghtandr api
dt appingr at
herratherthanpressure.

Ruf
fi
niendi
ngsorcor
puscl
e(bul
bouscor
puscl
e)

Ruf
f i
niendingsar esmal l,spindle-
shaped,slowlyadapt i
ngreceptorsfoundt hroughoutt he
der
mi s,subcutaneoust i
ssue, andsomeconnect iv
et i
ssues.Thest r
uctureofaRuf f
iniendingis
madeupofasi ngle,branchingsensor yfi
beri nathincapsulesurroundedbycol lagenf i
bers.
Thecollagenousconnect ivetissuecrossest hecapsulelongit
udinal
ly.Whent ensioni sappli
ed
tot
heendsoft hecapsul ethener vefi
berbranchesar ecompressedbet weent hecol l
agenf i
ber
s.
Theinelasti
cproper ti
esofcol l
agencauset hecompr essi
onoft henervefiberst obemai nt
ained
aslongast hetensi onisappl iedtothecapsul e.Nerveimpulsesfrom theser eceptor sare
per
ceivedasst retching.

Ruf
fi
nicor
puscl
e(hi
stol
ogi
cal
sli
de)

Rapi
dlyadapt
ingr
ecept
ors

Hai
rfol
l
icl
erecept
ors

Somef r
eenerveendi
ngssurr
oundhairfol
l
icl
es.Theseareref
err
edt oashairfoll
i
clereceptor
s
andtheysensefi
nemovementsofhairontheskin.I
tist
houghtthatbendingthehairdist
orts
ther
eceptorendi
ngwrappedaroundt
hehairfol
li
cleandgenerat
esapot enti
al.Hairf
oll
icl
e
receptorsar
er api
dlyadapti
ngreceptor
sthatrespondbett
ertosomethi
ngbr ushingacrosst
he
skinrathert
hanpr essur
e.Theyshowv ari
abl
ecompl exi
tydependi
ngonlocation.Forexample,
thereceptor
ssur r
oundingthewhiskersofacataresigni
fi
cantl
ymoresophisticatedt
hanthose
onhumanski n.

Paci
niancor
puscl
es(
lamel
l
arcor
puscl
es)

Pacini
ancor puscl
esarelarge,wi
despreadmechanor ecept
orssensi
tiv
et omechani calpressur
e
andv i
brati
ons.Theyexisti
nt hedermis(ski
n)al l
overthebodyandwi thinjoints,peri
osteum,
connectiveti
ssue,andi
nternalorgans.Str
uctural
ly,t
heyconsistofasinglener veending
encapsulatedinaseri
esofconcent ri
clamellaeextendingfr
om aSchwanncel l
.Thelamel l
aeof
aPaciniancorpusclear
esepar at
edbyasmal l
spacef i
ll
edwithlymph-l
ikefluid.Thespacemay
al
socont aincoll
agenfi
bril
sandsomecapi l
lari
es.

Capsul
eofPaci
niancor
puscl
e(hi
stol
ogi
cal
sli
de)

Displacementoftheskincompr essest hecorpuscleandtrigger

sanact i
onpotenti
ali
nthenerv
e
ending.Pacini
ancorpusclesarerapidlyadapti
ngr ecept
orsandr espondtoacceler
ati
on,ort
he
onset /
cessati
onofdisplacementoft heskin.Thi
smakest hem opti
mizedtoprocessbri
ef
touchesandv ibr
ati
ons.Pacini
ancor pusclesareincredi
blysensit
iveandcanrespondtoaskin
displ
acementassmal l
as1µm.

Mei
ssner
’scor
puscl
es(
tact
il
ecor
puscl
es)

Meissner
’scorpuscl
esarefoundinthedermalpapil
l
aeofhair
lessskin.Theyar
echaracter
ized
byencapsulat
ednerveendingssensi
ti
vetoli
ghtpressur
e.Meissner
’scorpuscl
esar
et houghtto
beresponsibl
eforourabi
li
tytomanipul
atefi
neobjectswit
hprecisi
on.Forexampl
e,theyareare
foundinthefi
ngerpads.

Mei
ssner
'scor
puscl
e(hi
stol
ogi
cal
sli
de)
Str
ucturall
y,Meissner’
scor pusclesareelongat edl
amellaewi ththelongaxisorient
ed
perpendicul
artotheskinsur face.Onceagai n,
thecapsuleiscomposedoft hinepit
heli
alcel
l
s.
Howev er,unl
ikethePaciniancor pusclethathasconcent r
iclamel l
ae,thecapsuleofa
Meissner’scorpuscleconsistsofat hinl
ay erofepit
heli
alcellssurroundingastackofSchwann
cel
ls.Oneormor enervefibersreachest hebaseoft hecorpuscleandt henwindsit
sway
betweent hestacks.Whenpr essur eisappliedtotheskin,thestacksoft hecorpuscl
eare
compr essedanddepol ar
izet henerveendi ng.

Locat
ionoft
her
ecept
ors

Humanski ni ssai
dtobeeitherhair
yorglabrous.Glabrousskin,f
orexampl eskinonthesoleof
thefoot
,isdev oi
dofhair
s.Althoughmanymechanor eceptorsarefoundinbothgl abr
ousand
hair
yskin,somear el
imit
edt oonetype.Freenerveendi ngs,
beingunspeciali
zed,arefound
thr
oughoutt hebodyinbothhairyandglabrousskin.

Ruffi
ni endings,Paciniancor puscles,
andMer kelnerveendi ngsarenotasi nvolv
edwi thf
ine
touchandar ealsofoundt hroughoutthebodyinbot hski ntypes.Meissner'
scorpuscl es
howev errespondt olightt ouchesandar eonlyfoundi nthegl abr
ousskininareasoft hebody
thatrequirehighlyacut esensat i
onsuchast heey eli
dsandf ingert
ips.Hairfol
li
clereceptorsare
associatedwi thhairfolli
clesandt her
eforecanonl ybef oundi nhair
yskin.I
ncludingt heconcept
thatsomer eceptor
sar eonlylocatedinglabr
ousski nv shairyskin(orboth)wouldal sohelpin
termsofknowi ngtheirf uncti
ons.