Neurodynamic analysis of Merkel cell–neurite complex transduction mechanism during tactile sensing

The present study aimed to identify the mechanism of tactile sensation by analyzing the regularity of the firing pattern of Merkel cell–neurite complex (MCNC) under the stimulation of different compression depths. The fingertips were exposed to the contact pressure of a spherical object to sense external stimuli in this study. The distribution structure of slowly adapting type I (SAI) mechanoreceptors was considered for analyzing the neural coding of tactile stimuli, especially the firing pattern of SAI neural network for perceiving the external stimulation. The numerical simulation results showed that (1) when the skin was pressed by the same sphere and the depth of the pressing finger skin and position of the force application point remained unchanged, the firing rate of the neuron depended on the synergistic effect of the number of receptors connected with the neuron and the distance between the neuron and the force application point. (2) When the fingertip was pressed by the same sphere at a constant depth and the different contact position, the overall firing rate of the MCNC neural network increased with the number of SAI mechanoreceptors in the area where the force application point was located.