Researchers discover new way to control the sense of touch
Rutgers researchers have found a new way to manage the receptors that control the sense of touch, which could lead to treating chronic pain more effectively.
Aug 19, 2024
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Rutgers researchers have found a new way to manage the receptors that control the sense of touch, which could lead to treating chronic pain more effectively.
Aug 19, 2024
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56
Why do some people feel itchy after a mosquito bite or exposure to an allergen like dust or pollen, while others do not? A new study has pinpointed the reason for these differences, finding the pathway by which immune and ...
Sep 4, 2024
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A team of medical researchers at the Washington University Pain Center, in St. Louis, working with colleagues from the Georgia Institute of Technology, has isolated the neurons in the airways of mice that trigger sneezes ...
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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