Work

Labeled lines meet and talk: population coding of somatic sensations

Year: 2010

Type: review

Abstract: The somatic sensory system responds to stimuli of distinct modalities, including touch, pain, itch, and temperature sensitivity. In the past century, great progress has been made in understanding the coding of these sensory modalities. From this work, two major features have emerged. First, there are specific neuronal circuits or labeled lines transmitting specific sensory information from the skin to the brain. Second, the generation of specific sensations often involves crosstalk among distinct labeled lines. These features suggest that population coding is the mechanism underlying somatic sensation.

Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation

DOI: 10.1172/jci43426

Author: Qiufu Ma

Institutions: Harvard University, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center

Language: English

Topic: Tactile and Sensory Interactions

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

Awards: Molecular control of spinal relay sensory neuron phenoypes and pain behaviors, Genetic Control of Nociceptive Sensory Neuron Development and Pain Behavior, Regulation Trigeminal Neuron Differentiation&Projection, Molecular Mechanisms of Fate Choice in Neural Stem Cells (P01)