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Neural Processing of Itch

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Pruritus

Abstract

Itch is a universal sensation. One-fourth of the population experiences chronic itch lasting more than 6 weeks in their lifetime. Chronic itch is associated with a variety of inflammatory, systemic and neurological diseases, and can be intractable. Although the precise mechanisms underlying chronic itch are still not completely understood, recent molecular and cellular studies have greatly advanced our knowledge. This chapter describes how pruritic stimuli are transduced and transmitted via primary sensory afferents into the spinal cord for central nervous processing of itch information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Dermatology & Anatomy and Cell Biology, Temple Itch Center, Temple University, 3500 N Broad Street MERB452, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA

    Tasuku Akiyama PhD

  2. Department of Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    E. Carstens PhD

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  1. Tasuku Akiyama PhD
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  2. E. Carstens PhD
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Correspondence to Tasuku Akiyama PhD or E. Carstens PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, University of Brest, Brest, France

    Laurent Misery

  2. Center of Chronic Pruritus, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Sonja Ständer

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Akiyama, T., Carstens, E. (2016). Neural Processing of Itch. In: Misery, L., Ständer, S. (eds) Pruritus. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33142-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33142-3_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33140-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33142-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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