Morphology of Cutaneous Receptors

Abstract

This and the following three chapters will deal with the morphological and physiological characteristics of cutaneous, joint and tendon receptors that have been identified in vertebrates. A recent historical review of the morphology of cutaneous receptors was given by Munger (1971) in Chapter 17, Volume I of this Handbook and the present morphological account is largely restricted to those receptors which have been studied in detail both electrophysiologically and electron microscopically. This recent work has brought together single unit electrophysiological analysis of cutaneous receptors, which in several instances have been marked and identified during the physiological experiments, and detailed electron microscopical of these same receptors (in some instances those actually identified in the physiological experiments). This very detailed morphological investigation has allowed such accurate detail to be established, that some functions can be postulated on the basis of morphological structure. It is still not possible, however, to account for the transducer function of the receptors in molecular terms, and further technological developments, for example in histochemical technique, may be necessary before it is possible to account for diverse physiological responses from morphologically indistinguishable structures.