Coding of mechanical pain by myelinated and unmyelinated nociceptors in human hairy skin.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

In humans, cutaneous Aβ afferents are traditionally linked to discriminative touch, while pain is attributed to Aδ and C fibers. However, we previously identified thickly myelinated high-threshold mechanoreceptors (Aβ-HTMRs) that encode noxious skin indentations and evoke painful percepts when selectively activated. These afferents also display finely grained receptive fields and resilience to fatigue during sustained stimulation.

Objectives

To characterize the tuning properties of A-HTMRs under controlled mechanical stimulation and compare them with C-HTMRs.

Methods

We used a robotic stimulation system capable of delivering precise skin indentations across a wide force range (20-1000 mN). Single-unit axonal recordings (microneurography) were obtained fro

SUBMITTER: Bouchatta O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12863872 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature