Department of Pulmonary Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA; Robley Rex VA Medical Center, Louisville, KY 40206, USA.
Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 2023 Jul;313:104071. doi: 10.1016/j.resp.2023.104071. Epub 2023 May 4.
Two conventional doctrines govern airway mechanosensory interpretation: One-Sensor Theory (OST) and Line-Labeled Theory (LLT). In OST, one afferent fiber connects to a single sensor. In LLT, a different type of sensor sends signals via its specific line to a particular brain region to evoke its reflex. Thus, airway slowly adapting receptors (SARs) inhibit breathing and rapidly adapting receptors (RARs) stimulate breathing. However, recent studies show many different mechanosensors connect to a single afferent fiber (Multiple-Sensor Theory, MST). That is, SARs and RARs may send different types of information through the same afferent pathway, indicating different information has been integrated at the sensory unit level. Thus, a sensory unit is not merely a transducer (textbook concept), but also a processor. MST is a conceptual shift. Data generated over last eight decades under OST require re-interpretation.
单感受器理论（OST）和线标理论（LLT）。OST 中，一根传入纤维连接到一个单一的感受器。在 LLT 中，不同类型的传感器通过其特定的线路发送信号到特定的脑区，引发反射。因此，气道慢适应感受器（SARs）抑制呼吸，而快适应感受器（RARs）刺激呼吸。然而，最近的研究表明，许多不同的机械感受器连接到单个传入纤维（多感受器理论，MST）。也就是说，SARs 和 RARs 可能通过相同的传入途径发送不同类型的信息，这表明不同的信息已经在感觉单元水平上整合。因此，感觉单元不仅仅是一个换能器（教科书概念），也是一个处理器。MST 是一个概念上的转变。OST 下过去八十年产生的数据需要重新解释。
