Sensory Organization of the Pharynx and LarynxSensory receptors of the larynx
Section snippets
Mechanoreceptors
Histologic investigations using light and electron microscopy have revealed a number of neural structures that include “free nerve endings,” corpuscular endings, Merkel cells, and encapsulated endings resembling Meissner corpuscles.3, 4 Because free nerve endings are either nociceptors or thermal receptors, the Merkel cells, and Meissner corpuscles are probably the receptors responsible for responding to mechanical stimulation of the larynx and epiglottis.
Investigators recording from the SLN
Chemoreceptors
The presence of taste-bud–like structures on the larynx has been known for some time. As early as 1876, Schofield described taste buds on the epiglottis of the dog and cat.9 Since that time, many authors have described the morphology, development, innervation, and distribution of these structures at the light microscopic level.10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 These investigations have shown that taste buds located at the entrance to the larynx are only found on the epithelium of the laryngeal
Water receptors
Because reflex responses to water in the larynx can be recorded from locations that do not have taste buds, some investigators have claimed that the laryngeal response to water does not originate with stimulation of taste buds but another receptor of unknown morphology called a water receptor.28 However, analysis of the receptive fields of cat SLN chemosensitive fibers has shown that these receptive fields correspond to the distribution of taste buds on the laryngeal surface of the epiglottis
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders Grant DC 00288.
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