Sensory Receptors of the Skin

Abstract

Successive periods of investigation have produced anatomic, physiological, and psychological phases in our understanding of skin sensation. Each phase has been the result of technological improvement. The use of the electron microscope has brought about a decade of renewed anatomic study and reclassification of skin nerve endings. Correlation with single-unit recordings has produced a new awareness that anatomic simplicity may be attainable but that physiological responses remain complex and often proceed from stimulation of patterns of diverse receptor tissue. New chemical and immunochemical methods are providing a new degree of resolution of histological questions. Whole-mount preparations offer an excellent opportunity for correlation of sensation with structure and for quantitative study of receptor tissue. This review of cutaneous sensory receptors summarizes diverse approaches to the common problem of what receptors are present and on what evidence their independent existence and function rest. The chapter includes specific pertinent and current references. Exhaustive bibliographies on the subject will be found in the reviews of the last 20 years (Montagna and Brook-hart, 1977; Munger, 1971; Halata, 1975; Chouchkov, 1978; Winkelmann, 1960b; Sinclair, 1981; Malinovsky and Pac, 1982).