Aδ fiber
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Aδ fibers are thin, myelinated axons with a moderate conduction velocity, or speed of travel of a nerve signal (2 to 30 m/s). These nerve fibers are associated with acute (sharp) pain and therefore constitute the afferent portion of the reflex arc that results in "pulling away" from noxious stimuli (ie: yanking hand away from hot stove). A certain proportion of Aδ fibers are also associated with sensations of temperature (also known as 'cold receptors' in mammals) and pressure. Slowly-conducting, unmyelinated C fibers, by contrast, carry slow, burning pain.
Like other sensory fibers, the Aδ fiber is an extension of a pseudounipolar neuron with its cell body located in a dorsal root ganglion or trigeminal ganglion. Within the spinal cord, afferent nociceptor fibers synapse at or near the spinal cord level where they enter.
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| This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Aδ fiber. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
