Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T21:12:49.315Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The distribution of nasal airflow sensitivity in normal subjects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

R. W. Clarke
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool.
A. S. Jones*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool.
*
Professor A. S. Jones, Department of Otolaryngology, University of Liverpool, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, PO Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX.

Abstract

Nasal airflow modifies the pattern of ventilation presumably due in part to nervous signals arising in the nose and transmitted along the trigeminal nerve to the respiratory centre. Nasal receptor tissue must also be important in determining the sensation of airflow at a conscious level but little attention has been paid to the distribution and function of these receptors.

An experimental model to deliver a pulse of air at different velocities to various nasal test sites is described. In this way nasal sensitivity to an air jet can be mapped out. Sensitivity of the nose to an air jet is greatest at the entrance to the nose – the region of the nasal vestibule.

Type
Main Articles
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Clarke, R. W., Jones, A. S., Charters, P., Sherman, I. W. (1992) The role of mucosal receptors in the nasal sensation of airflow. Clinical Otolaryngology 17: 383387.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke, R. W., Jones, A. S. (1992) Nasal airflow receptors: the relative importance of temperature and tactile stimulation. Clinical Otolaryngology 17: 387392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cole, P., Haight, J. S. (1985) Nasal mucosal anaesthesia and airflow resistance. Rhinology 23: 209212.Google ScholarPubMed
Cauna, N., Hinderer, K. H., Wentges, R. T. (1969) Sensory receptor organs in the human nasal respiratory mucosa. American Journal of Anatomy 124: 189209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Editorial (1992) The nose and the respiratory system. Lancet 339: 15111512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, M. J., Altman, D. G. (1989) Statistics with Confidence. British Medical Journal, London, pp 2027.Google Scholar
Iggo, A. (1969) Cutaneous thermoreceptors in primates and subprimates. Journal of Physiology (London) 200: 403430.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, A. S., Crosher, R., Wight, R. G. (1987) The effect of local anaesthesia of the nasal vestibule on nasal sensation of airflow and nasal resistance. Clinical Otolaryngology 12: 461464.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, A. S., Wight, R. G., Crosher, R., Durham, L. H. (1989) Nasal sensation of airflow following blockade of nasal trigeminal afferants. Clinical Otolaryngology 14: 285289.Google Scholar
Nishino, T., Sugivama, A., Tanaka, A., Ishikawa, T. (1992) Effects of topical nasal anaesthesia of shift of breathing rate in adults. Lancet 339: 14971500.Google Scholar