A role for polymodal C-fiber afferents in nonhistaminergic itch.

Recent psychophysical and electrophysiological studies in humans suggest the existence of two peripheral pathways for itch, one that is responsive to histamine and a second pathway that can be activated by nonhistaminergic pruritogens (e.g., cowhage spicules).

Similar electrophysiological changes in axotomized and neighboring intact dorsal root ganglion neurons.

We investigated electrophysiological changes in chronically axotomized and neighboring intact dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons in rats after either a peripheral axotomy consisting of an L5 spinal nerve ligation (SNL) or a central axotomy produced by an L5 partial rhizotomy (PR). SNL produced lasting hyperalgesia to punctate indentation and tactile allodynia to innocuous stroking of the foot ipsilateral to the injury. PR produced ipsilateral hyperalgesia without allodynia with recovery by day 10.

Neural coding of the location and direction of a moving object by a spatially distributed population of mechanoreceptors.

A neural code for the location and direction of an object moving over the fingerpad was constructed from the responses of a population of rapidly adapting type I (RAs) and slowly adapting type I (SAs) mechanoreceptive nerve fibers. The object was either a sphere with a radius of 5 mm or a toroid with radii of 5 mm on the major axis and either 1 or 3 mm on the minor axis. The object was stroked under constant velocity and contact force along eight different linear trajectories.

Protein kinase A modulates spontaneous activity in chronically compressed dorsal root ganglion neurons in the rat.

Protein kinase A (PKA) can play a critical role in the modulation of neuronal excitability. We examined the role of PKA in the modulation of abnormal spontaneous activity (SA) originating from the chronically compressed dorsal root ganglion (CCD). The L(4) and L(5) dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) were compressed by inserting a stainless steel rod into each corresponding intervertebral foramen.