Algorithm for code formation in cutaneous analyzer periphery

Integrative methods for the analysis of afferent activity (colliding flows, discrimination of signal against noise, and cross-correlation functions) are used to quantify the characteristics of impulse flows and determine the differences between them under proportioned mechanical, temperature, and painful stimuli of cutaneous receptors and nerves. It is shown experimentally that the code of sensory signals produced in response to stimuli of different modalities is a space-time impulse distribution, i.e., a flow structure (pattern). Tests of the sensations experienced by human volunteers under simultaneous impacts of specific patterns on the central nervous system are performed. The mechanism of thermal sensory code formation is examined.