Extrinsic Sensory Innervation of the Gut: Structure and Function

Simon Brookes, Bao Chen, Adam Humenick, Nicholas Spencer, Marcello Costa

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    21 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Extrinsic sensory neurons play a key role in the function of the gastrointestinal tract. They are responsible for the sensations that arise in the gut and can initiate automatic reflexes. In some cases, disordered sensation is clinically problematic-pain, bloating, excessive urgency and nausea are well-known examples. Major advances have been made in understanding the function of somatic sensory neurons in the last 50 years. However, the sensory neurons that mediate sensations from the viscera remain less well understood. This is partly because viscera receive a dense autonomic innervation that can be difficult to separate from extrinsic sensory neurons. A key requirement to understand the genesis of sensation is to distinguish the different classes of sensory neurons and the types of stimuli which they encode. The aim of this short paper is to summarise what was known about these matters 30 years ago and highlight some of the major advances in the understanding of the types of extrinsic sensory neurons to the gut. Necessarily, the choice of papers is somewhat idiosyncratic, but they illustrate the range of advances that have been made in distinguishing the different classes of gastrointestinal afferent nerves.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationThe Enteric Nervous System: 30 Years Later
    PublisherSpringer
    Pages63-69
    Number of pages7
    Volume891
    ISBN (Print)9783319275925
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016

    Publication series

    NameAdvances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
    Volume891
    ISSN (Print)0065-2598
    ISSN (Electronic)2214-8019

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