Somatosensory pleasure circuit: from skin to brain and back. Issue 5 (9th March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lloyd, Donna M.; McGlone, Francis P.; Yosipovitch, Gil
• Is Part Of: Experimental dermatology. Volume 24:Issue 5(2015:May)
• Page Start: 321
• Page End: 324
• Publication Date: 2015-03-09
• Subjects: Dermatology -- Periodicals; 616.5
• DOI: 10.1111/exd.12639
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0906-6705

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="exd12639-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>The skin senses serve a discriminative function, allowing us to manipulate objects and detect touch and temperature, and an affective/emotional function, manifested as itch or pain when the skin is damaged. Two different classes of nerve fibre mediate these dissociable aspects of cutaneous somatosensation: (i) myelinated A‐beta and A‐delta afferents that provide rapid information about the location and physical characteristics of skin contact; and (ii) unmyelinated, slow‐conducting C‐fibre afferents that are typically associated with coding the emotional properties of pain and itch. However, recent research has identified a third class of C‐fibre afferents that code for the pleasurable properties of touch – c‐tactile afferents or CTs. Clinical application of treatments that target pleasant, CT‐mediated touch (such as massage therapy) could, in the future, provide a complementary, non‐pharmacological means of treating both the physical and psychological aspects of chronic skin conditions such as itch and eczema.</p> </abstract>