MadSci Network: General Biology
Query:

Re: why when a mosquito lands on our arm, we can feel but if its stay for long

Date: Thu Dec 7 06:58:05 2000
Posted By: Eric Tardif, Post-doc/Fellow, Institut de Physiologie, Université de Lausanne
Area of science: General Biology
ID: 976046894.Gb
Message:

Dear lol,

You can feel the mosquito on your arm because sensory receptors in the 
skin can be very sensitive and send information to the brain that create 
the feeling you get. There are several kind of receptors in the skin and a 
distinction can be made between slowly adaptating receptors and rapidly 
adapting receptors. In the case of a mosquito, the stimulation is very 
light (does not deform the skin) and is detected by receptors that adapt 
rapidly. They are called Meissner's corpuscules. That is, if the mosquito 
does not move on your arm to another distant location (stimulating other 
receptors), the receptor stop sending messages to the brain and you can no 
longer feel it.

Hope that help,
Eric




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