When COVID-19 began spreading in 2020, some of its most common symptoms affected the peripheral nervous system, the network of nerves that enables communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Many people reported ...
Sep 6, 2023
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Nerve cells that sense touch grow the appropriate endings for hairy or hairless skin based on cues from the skin itself, rather than through predetermined programming, according to research led by Harvard Medical School scientists ...
Aug 23, 2023
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Gastrointestinal and digestive issues impact roughly 3 million people across the United States alone, and that number is growing. A new study from Scripps Research scientists shows how sensory neurons control our gastrointestinal ...
Aug 3, 2023
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The gut-brain connection is a complicated two-way signaling cascade that is responsible for keeping the digestive system working properly and can cause problems when it breaks down. A key part of that axis is the colon, which ...
Aug 3, 2023
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Sensory neurons play a crucial role in the perception of "hot" and "cold". They express a group of ion channels called thermosensitive TRP channels. For example, TRPV1 (activated above 43°C) and TRPM8 (activated below 29°C) ...
Jul 21, 2023
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A recent study by researchers at Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, and Scripps Research Institute has discovered fluorescent dye FM 1-43 as an effective and versatile tool to visualize PIEZO2 ion channel ...
Jun 14, 2023
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Our brains are made of billions of neurons, which are connected forming complex networks. They communicate between themselves by sending electrical signals, known as action potentials, and chemical signals, known as neurotransmitters, ...
Apr 6, 2023
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A key feature of the severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis is an abrupt drop in blood pressure and body temperature, causing people to faint and, if untreated, potentially die.
Mar 17, 2023
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For a functioning brain to develop from its embryonic beginnings, so much has to happen and go exactly right with exquisite precision, according to a just-so sequence in space and time. It's like starting with a brick that ...
Mar 15, 2023
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Sensory neurons pick up information from our senses and relay it to the rest of the nervous system. But this is not their only mission. In a new study published in the journal Current Biology, Claire Wyart at the Paris Brain ...
Feb 15, 2023
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Sensory neurons are neurons that are activated by sensory input (vision, touch, hearing, etc.), and send projections into the central nervous system that convey sensory information to the brain or spinal cord. Unlike neurons of the central nervous system, whose inputs come from other neurons, sensory neurons are activated by physical modalities such as light, sound, temperature, chemical stimulation, etc.
In complex organisms, sensory neurons relay their information to the central nervous system or in less complex organisms, such as the hydra, directly to motor neurons and sensory neurons also transmit information (electrical impulses) to the brain, where it can be further processed and acted upon. For example, olfactory sensory neurons make synapses with neurons of the olfactory bulb, where the sense of olfaction (smell) is processed.
At the molecular level, sensory receptors located on the cell membrane of sensory neurons are responsible for the conversion of stimuli into electrical impulses. The type of receptor employed by a given sensory neuron determines the type of stimulus it will be sensitive to. For example, neurons containing mechanoreceptors are sensitive to tactile stimuli, while olfactory receptors make a cell sensitive to odors.
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