The sense of touch allows us to perceive and respond to the physical world –we recognize objectsheld in our hands, discriminate between different textures and shapes, and sensory-motorfeedback circuits coordinate our body movements. The sense of touch also underlies forms ofsocial exchange and is thus an essential component of the human experience. The first stepleading to touch perception is activation of a group of cutaneous sensory neurons called low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs). There are several LTMR types, and each has a uniquesensitivity, morphology, physiological property and, presumably, function. Understanding theunique functions of each LTMR type, and how ensembles of LTMR activities are integrated and processed in the CNS to form touch percepts are outstanding questions in the field. Therefore, theoverall goals of my laboratory, and thus this R35 proposal, are: 1) to elucidate the sensitivities,mechanisms of excitation, and unique functions of the major classes of mammalian cutaneousLTMRs; 2) to define the logic of LTMR circuit organization in the spinal cord and brainstem, andthe nature of ascending pathways to the brain that underlie discriminative and affective touchperception; 3) to establish how the peripheral somatosensory system assembles duringdevelopment; and 4) to determine whether and how dysfunction of touch circuits and theirdevelopment underlies tactile deficits in autism spectrum disorders and during neuropathic pain.We are achieving these goals using an array of powerful mouse molecular genetic tools, combinedwith sophisticated electrophysiological, anatomical, behavioral and developmental assays.Successful completion of this R35's goals will thus reveal mechanisms of somatosensory nervoussystem development and function, and spinal cord touch information processing underlyingperception, under normal and disease conditions.
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
Autism Research Database (AFD)
