Stimulus discrimination by the polymodal sensory neuron

Abstract

Polymodal sensory neurons inform organisms about the nature of the physical world around them. The activity of these cells guide behaviors including the withdrawal from nocifensive stimuli such as intense heat or harsh force to feeling the comforting weight of a warm blanket. Molecular and genetic analysis of the channel proteins required for these divers behavioral responses have revealed an elaborate and disparate collection of channel proteins within the polymodal sensory neuron. Recent data supports that the biophysical traits of the channel proteins combined with the collection of channels activated during stimulation is sufficient to describe the nature of the stimulus. It is currently unclear what the functional arrangement of channel proteins are during perception. Specifically, are channel proteins arranged in parallel and function independently during perception, or are these channel proteins arranged in functional sensory networks. We propose a hierarchal functional arrangement of channels within polymodal sensory neurons that incorporates aspects of both parallel and serial arrangements of channel proteins.