General somatic afferent fiber

The general somatic afferent fibers (GSA or somatic sensory fibers) are afferent fibers that arise from neurons in sensory ganglia and are found in all the spinal nerves, except occasionally the first cervical. General somatic afferents conduct impulses of pain, touch and temperature from the surface of the body through the dorsal roots to the spinal cord, and impulses of muscle sense, tendon sense and joint sense from the deeper structures.^[1]

General somatic afferent fibers
Scheme showing structure of a typical spinal nerve. 1. Somatic efferent. 2. Somatic afferent. 3,4,5. Sympathetic efferent. 6,7. Autonomic afferent.
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

See also

• Afferent nerve
• General visceral afferent fiber (GVA)
• Special somatic afferent fiber (SSA)
• Special visceral afferent fiber (SVA)

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 849 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

1. Sikandar, Shafaq; Dickenson, Anthony H (2012). "Visceral Pain – the Ins and Outs, the Ups and Downs". Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care. 6 (1): 17–26. doi:10.1097/SPC.0b013e32834f6ec9. PMC 3272481. PMID 22246042.