Iconography of sensory nerve endings

Sensory nerve endings are receptors which perceive stimuli arriving from various sources and transmit them to the central nervous system. The stimuli can be either useful or harmful for the individual.. Some of the stimuli originate from within the body (organs, tissues and cells) and are perceived by the interoceptors; others, perceived by the exteroceptors, arrive from the environment. Primitive or more complicated interoceptors can be found in all organs. They transmit information to the nerve cells in the centres and inform them about the current state, i.e. the normal or pathological function of the organs. This information initiates and maintains central control whereby the balanced function of the body is ensured. If the receptors are destroyed, the organ becomes isolated from the integrity of the body. Without the rec??tors reflexes are also abolished and the efferent nervous connections between the cortex and the periphery are severed. The exteroceptors are the "guardians of the body. The environment keeps changing and causes the individual to undergo changes all the time. Otherwise the living structure becomes lifeless: it petrifies or is broken down into its elements. In the course of phylogenesis intricate exteroceptor systems have developed reacting specifically to touch, sound, light, taste, smell and temperature. They amplify the energy of the stimulus and enable the animal to avoid danger. Exteroceptors form the basis of conditioned reflexes and voluntary move-ments serving the purposes of adaptation and survival. With insufficient exteroceptors the organism is not able to adapt to environmental changes, and departs from life. In this atlas the receptors of some organs and organ systems are displayed. With a few exceptions, the figures are original drawings made from my own histological preparations which are available in my collection at Szeged. I hand over my book, the result of the research work of long decades, to those who are interested in the structure and function of the nervous system, with the desire that they find as much pleasure in reading it as I found when I made the slides and was bending over the lens of the microscope. Doing that I wish to thank my pupils, my coworkers and everybody who helped me in accomplishing this work. I am grateful to the editorial staff and printing office of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for the careful presentation of my book. Szeged, 1980. The Author