Physiology, Mechanoreceptors

Excerpt

Mechanoreceptors are a type of somatosensory receptors which relay extracellular stimulus to intracellular signal transduction through mechanically gated ion channels. The external stimuli are usually in the form of touch, pressure, stretching, sound waves, and motion. Mechanoreceptors are present in the superficial as well as the deeper layer of skin and near bone. These receptors are either encapsulated or unencapsulated, and the free nerve endings are usually unencapsulated dendrite. There are four major categories of tactile mechanoreceptors: Merkel’s disks, Meissner’s corpuscles, Ruffini endings, and Pacinian corpuscles.