Question

there are many tactile receptors in the skin (mod. 13.18). at this point the only ones you are expected to know are the ones that can be seen easily in slides: lamellated (pacinian) corpuscles in the dermis and hypodermis, and tactile (meissners) corpuscles in the papillary layer of the dermis. which ones are larger?

Explanation:

🆕 New Concept Discovered: Integumentary Sensory Receptors
Comparing structures of skin mechanoreceptors.

Step 1: Identify the two receptors in question

The text asks us to compare two specific tactile receptors found in the skin:

1. Lamellated (Pacinian) corpuscles: Located deep in the dermis and hypodermis.
2. Tactile (Meissner's) corpuscles: Located superficially in the papillary layer of the dermis.

Step 2: Compare their physical sizes

• Lamellated (Pacinian) corpuscles are much larger, onion-like structures. They can measure up to \(1.0\text{ mm}\) to \(2.0\text{ mm}\) in length, making them large enough to be visible to the naked eye in some anatomical preparations.
• Tactile (Meissner's) corpuscles are much smaller, elongated structures typically measuring only about \(30\text{ to }150\ \mu\text{m}\) in length.

Therefore, the lamellated (Pacinian) corpuscles are significantly larger than the tactile (Meissner's) corpuscles.

Answer:

Lamellated (Pacinian) corpuscles are larger.