Intro | Free Nerve Endings | Meissner's Corpuscle | Merkel's Disks | Pacinian Corpuscle | Ruffini Corpuscles | Subcutaneus Fat | Sweat Gland
Part 1: Image-Mapped Tutorial
Part 2: Matching Self-Test
Part 3: Multiple-Choice Self-Test
Ruffini Endings (or Corpuscles) are found in the superficial dermis of both hairy and glaborous skin where they record low-frequency vibration or pressure. These receptors adapt slowly to pressure that results in stretching of the skin. They record the sustained presence of pressure on the skin.
| Advanced |
Psychophysical studies of pain receptors (Darian-Smith, 1984) indicate that the peak sensitivity of these receptors is to vibrations at approximately 40 Hertz and below. Ruffini endings are slow adapting receptors with small receptive fields. Riffini disks adapt more slowly and typically have a more regular rate of discharge than Merkel's disks, the other slowly adapting skin receptor. In addition, the response of Ruffini endings to stretch is often selective to the direction of stretch.
| Reference |
Darian-Smith, I (Ed.). (1984). The handbook of physiology: sensory processes (Volume III, Parts 1 and 2). The American Physiological Society.