when you stimulate the dorsal column tract

#When you stimulate the dorsal column tract skin#

A) When no stimulus is present, the dorsal column neurons fire at a baseline rate. The receptive field of a dorsal column nucleus has an inhibitory surround, which is a result of the indirect connections between mechanoreceptors and the dorsal column neuron via inhibitory interneurons.

#When you stimulate the dorsal column tract skin#

If a stimulus touches the skin in the surround of a dorsal column neuron’s receptive field, the neuron will decrease its firing rate. The surround has an inhibitory effect on the dorsal column neuron. The surround region of the receptive field is a result of indirect communication between the receptor neurons and the dorsal column neurons via inhibitory interneurons. ‘Touch Receptive Field Center’ by Casey Henley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike (CC BY-NC-SA) 4.0 International License. B) When a stimulus touches the center of the receptive field of Cell E, the firing rate increases. A) When no stimulus is present, the dorsal column neuron fires at a baseline rate. The receptive field of a dorsal column neuron has an excitatory center that is generated by the mechanoreceptors that synapse directly on the dorsal column neuron. The center / surround structure is like that of bipolar and ganglion cells in the vision system. If a stimulus touches the skin in the center of a dorsal column neuron’s receptive field, the neuron will increase its firing rate.

The center of the receptive field is a result of direct innervation from the mechanoreceptors. The dorsal column nuclei have receptive fields that are divided into center and surround regions. The mechanoreceptors synapse on neurons in the dorsal column, and those neurons have more complex receptive fields. We saw in the last lesson that mechanoreceptors have receptive fields that, when touched, activate the neuron. The receptive fields of the sensory neurons become more complex as information moves up the pathway.