MH 091 Thick Skin

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Mechanoreceptors

A mechanoreceptor is a sensory receptor that responds to pressure or vibration. Two types are easily seen in skin from fingers or lips.

Meissner Corpuscles (,,,,) - nerve endings in skin responsible for sensitivity to light touch.
- Located in dermal papillae.
- Each consists of a non-myelinated axon meandering between Schwann cells arranged as horizontal lamellae surrounded by a connective tissue capsule.
Pacinian Corpuscles (,,) - nerve endings in skin responsible for sensitivity to vibration and pressure.
- Large oval or spherical structures of 20 to 60 concentric lamellae located in the dense irregular connective tissue (dermis) underneath the epithelium.
- Each contains an of an non-myelinated axon within a fluid-filled cavity formed by several lamellae of Schwann cells. Most of the corpuscle is concentric lamellae separated by fluid. The flattened cells that form these are fibroblasts similar to those located in the endoneurium outside the capsule.