title: Hairy sensation.
abstract: The hairs of the skin not only function to prevent heat loss but also have important sensory functions. Recent work has now established that each hair of the skin is innervated by one or more of three types of mechanoreceptor ending. Each of these three mechanoreceptor types possesses distinct molecular features and detects distinctive information about skin touch, which is relayed to specific brain locations in a somatotopic fashion.
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany. stefan.lechner@mdc-berlin.de
authors: Stefan G
authors: SG
authors: Lechner
authors: Gary R
authors: GR
authors: Lewin
mesh_terms: D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D006197:Hair / Q000502:physiology*; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000294:innervation; D006801:Humans; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000502:physiology; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation*; D014110:Touch