Biology:Hair plexus
A hair plexus or root hair plexus is a special group of nerve fiber endings and serves as a very sensitive mechanoreceptor for touch sensation.[1][2]
Hair contains a number of different types of nerve endings.[3] They are specialized for the detection of different kinds of stimuli and thus different types of neuron innervate these structures within the skin.[4][3] In particular there are neurons innervating the hair that detect deflection of the hair (i.e. to detect stroking), and pulling of the hair (i.e. noxious stimuli).[4][5]
The hair follicles are innervated by at least 5 classes of low threshold mechanical receptors.
They are mechanoreceptors conveying touch sensation with cell bodies located inside of either dorsal root ganglia or trigeminal root ganglia.[6] For most of the body (excluding the head and neck), crude touch and noxious stimuli from these receptors are further conveyed by the spinothalamic tract[7] whereas discriminative and light touch are conveyed to via the dorsal column medial lemniscus pathway.[8] The head and neck use pathways involving the spinal trigeminal nucleus.[9][10]
References
- ↑ OpenStax (2022). "5.2 Accessory Structures of the Skin". Anatomy and Physiology 2e. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/5-2-accessory-structures-of-the-skin. Retrieved 2026-02-04.
- ↑ OpenStax (2022). "14.1 Sensory Perception". Anatomy and Physiology 2e. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/14-1-sensory-perception. Retrieved 2026-02-04.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Whitehead, Christine; Grider, Michael H. (2023), "Neuroanatomy, Touch Receptor", StatPearls [Internet] (StatPearls Publishing), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK547731/, retrieved 2026-02-04
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Li, Lishi; Ginty, David D. (February 25, 2014). "The structure and organization of lanceolate mechanosensory complexes at mouse hair follicles". eLife 3. doi:10.7554/eLife.01901.
- ↑ Ghitani, Nima; Barik, Arnab; Szczot, Marcin et al. (August 16, 2017). "Specialized mechanosensory nociceptors mediating rapid responses to hair-pull". Neuron 95 (4): 944–954.e4. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2017.07.024. PMID 28817806.
- ↑ Handler, Annie; Ginty, David D. (September 2021). "The mechanosensory neurons of touch and their mechanisms of activation" (in en). Nature Reviews Neuroscience 22 (9): 521–537. doi:10.1038/s41583-021-00489-x. ISSN 1471-003X. PMID 34312536.
- ↑ Purves, Dale; Augustine, George J.; Fitzpatrick, David; Katz, Lawrence C.; LaMantia, Anthony-Samuel; McNamara, James O.; Williams, S. Mark (2001), "Central Pain Pathways: The Spinothalamic Tract" (in en), Neuroscience. 2nd edition (Sinauer Associates), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10967/, retrieved 2024-08-18
- ↑ Purves, Dale; Augustine, George J.; Fitzpatrick, David; Katz, Lawrence C.; LaMantia, Anthony-Samuel; McNamara, James O.; Williams, S. Mark (2001), "The Major Afferent Pathway for Mechanosensory Information: The Dorsal Column-Medial Lemniscus System" (in en), Neuroscience. 2nd edition (Sinauer Associates), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11142/, retrieved 2024-08-18
- ↑ "Somatosensory Pathways (Section 2, Chapter 4)". Neuroscience Online: An Electronic Textbook for the Neurosciences. Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s2/chapter04.html.
- ↑ Price, Shmuel; Daly, Daniel T. (2023), "Neuroanatomy, Trigeminal Nucleus", StatPearls [Internet] (StatPearls Publishing), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539823/, retrieved 2026-02-04
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