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Scratching an itch

Nociceptors respond to both painful and itchy stimuli. MrgprA3-expressing neurons have now been found that are sparsely distributed in the skin and sense a wide variety of pruritogens.

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Figure 1: Spatial contrast theory of itch versus pain.

Katie Vicari

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Correspondence to Barbara Namer or Peter Reeh.

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Namer, B., Reeh, P. Scratching an itch. Nat Neurosci 16, 117–118 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3316

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