Cellular Mechanisms Of Sensory Processing: The Somatosensory System (nato Asi Subseries H:)

The research field of somatosensory processing in mammals has experienced revolutionary changes in recent years. Accumulation of basic and clinical data has greatly accelerated, and new phenomena have emerged. With the aid of new, refined methods, molecular and cellular changes have been described, underlying the signal transduction-transmission between the internal/external environment and the central nervous system have been described. The discovery of the interaction between the nervous and the immune system has, for example changed our view on the development of inflammatory diseases, while the cloning of genes encoding different trophic factors has boosted studies revealing profound changes in the regeneration of neurons, and induction of changes in phenotype. The study of the pre-and postsynaptic modulation of transmitter release, and the examination of the combined effects of amino acid and peptide transmitters has become recently possible by using cultured cell lines and in vitro techniques. Although it is in embryonic state, computational properties of single DRG cells under normal and pathological conditions are being investigated. Results soon or later will have a great impact on pain research and consequently ultimately in clinical pain management. This brief introduction indicates how our knowledge of the somatosensory system has increased dramatically recently. However, many investigators cultivate only a very specific field in the growing area of somatosensory research and find it difficult to integrate a more universal knowledge of their work. Front Matter....Pages I-XI Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Diversity of Somatic Spikes in Dorsal Root Ganglion Cells: Implications for Development, Function and Plasticity....Pages 3-18 Ion Channels Underlying Transduction and Adaptation in Mechanoreceptors....Pages 19-34 Signal Transduction Processes in Sensorimotor Neurons of the Enteric Nervous System....Pages 35-45 Modulation of Voltage Dependent Calcium Channels by GABA b Receptors and G Proteins in Cultured Rat Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons: Relevance to Transmitter Release and Its Modulation....Pages 47-61 Signal Integration in the Axon Tree due to Branch Point Filtering Action....Pages 63-85 Polymodality in Nociceptive Neurons: Experimental Models of Chemotransduction....Pages 87-117 Chemical Excitation and Sensitization of Nociceptors....Pages 119-131 Local Effector Functions of Primary Afferent Nerve Fibres....Pages 133-147 Front Matter....Pages 149-149 Exitatory Amino Acid Receptors in the In Vitro Mammalian Spinal Cord....Pages 151-160 Modulation of NMDA Currents in Hippocampal Neurones....Pages 161-172 Excitatory Amino Acid Receptors in the Spinal Cord....Pages 173-183 Excitatory Amino Acid Release in Dorsal Root Ganglion Cultures....Pages 185-193 The Involvement of Excitatory Amino Acids and their Receptors in the Spinal Processing of Nociceptive Input from the Normal and Inflamed Knee Joint in the Rat....Pages 195-215 Tachykinin Receptors and their Antagonists....Pages 217-230 Synaptic Activation by the Release of Peptides....Pages 231-254 TRH and Substance P Increase Rat Motoneurone Excitability through a Block of a Novel K + Conductance....Pages 255-269 Front Matter....Pages 271-271 Influences of the Chemical Environment on Peripheral Afferent Neurons....Pages 273-288 Silent Primary Afferents....Pages 289-296 Sensory Neurons and Plasticity: The Role of Immediate Early Genes....Pages 297-312 Molecular Biology of Dynorphin Gene Expression in Relationship to Spinal Cord Processing of Pain....Pages 313-336 Front Matter....Pages 271-271 Regulation of Cellular Phenotype in the Nociceptive Pathway....Pages 337-360 Altered Functions of Neuropeptides and Nitric Oxide in Somatosensory Afferents and Spinal Cord After Peripheral Nerve Lesions in the Rat....Pages 361-377 Hyperexcitabilty in the Spinal Dorsal Horn: Cooperation of Neuropeptides and Excitatory Amino Acids....Pages 379-399 The Role of Nitric Oxide in Hyperalgesia....Pages 401-419 Dynamic Changes in Dorsal Horn Neurons....Pages 421-447 Postsynaptic Changes during Sustained Primary Afferent Fiber Stimulation as Revealed by C-Fos Immunohistochemistry in the Rat Spinal Cord....Pages 449-471 Structural Plasticity of Primary Afferent Terminals in the Adult Dorsal Horn — Regenerative Sprouting Induced by Peripheral Nerve Injury....Pages 473-493 Back Matter....Pages 495-507 This volume is a multi-disciplinary characterization of the somatosensory system - a field that has experienced revolutionary changes in recent years through the accumulation of basic and clinical data. For example, the discovery of the interaction between the nervous system and the immune system has changed our view on the development of inflammatory diseases, while the cloning of genes encoding different trophic factors boosted studies revealing profound changes in the regeneration of neurones, and the induction of changes in phenotype.