What is the nociceptor?

Nocceptor is a type of nerve end that is responsible for perception of pain in most animals. It is a sensory receptor that is present on almost every area of ​​the animal's body, internally and externally. A string of events by which the nociceptor detects pain and a session signal to the brain is called nociception.

The central nervous system uses specific cells to send signals from different areas of the body to the brain. These cells are called neurons. They send signals using electronic and chemical nature. Specific neurons control, among other things, the ability of the animal to feel themselves and its environment. Others allow the body to respond to these stimuli by controlled movements. They are called sensory and motor neurons.

In the category of sensory receptors lies Nocipeptor. There are four kinds of nociceptors. Three of them respond quickly to their different triggers.

The thermal thermal reacts when the animal body is subject to extreme temperatures that can endanger the well -being of the animal. Any temperature above 107 ° F (approximately42 ° C) induces a thermal nociceptor. The pain that results from cuts or pressure on the body causes the reaction of the mechanical nociceptor. Chemical nociceptors recognize pain caused by chemicals such as capsaicin. Capsaicin is found in some peppers and causes chemical nociceptor to indicate a burning sense of brain, similar to its thermal counterpart.

The fourth nociceptor, sleeping nociceptor, only becomes active when the body has suffered damage. Sleeping nociceptors will not find any of the feelings of pain until it is activated by inflammation that accompanies the injury.

Polymodal nociceptor is able to detect multiple types of pain. The mechanical pain receptor can function as a polymodal nociceptor by identifying thermal stimulation along with the pain -induced pain. After injury and inflammation, he activated the sleeping nociceptor;

at youThe triggering stimulus building is activated by the action potential of the cell, which is also referred to as a nerve pulse. During the nerve pulse, the nociceptor converts the incoming stimul into an electrical signal, which eventually manifests itself as a physiological reaction. The central nervous system takes this nerve pulse and recognizes it as pain.