MadSci Network: General Biology |
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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