Dual sensory zone in the foot, which integrates the following functions:
1. Outer Ring: This part of the foot is sensitive to weight measurement during impact. It detects the overall load of the body, giving information about how much weight is being applied. It likely involves mechanoreceptors like Pacinian corpuscles and Ruffini endings, which sense pressure and deformation across the outer structures of the foot.
2. Inner Area: This area is designed to sense the speed of impact, or more specifically, the rate of weight transfer and tibial movement. This involves dynamic receptors such as Merkel cells for pressure detection and possibly Meissner corpuscles for detecting changes in motion or vibration. It measures the speed and direction of weight shifts caused by tibial movement, indicating the body’s motion mechanics.
Integration for Impact:
• Outer Ring (Weight) + Inner Area (Speed) = Impact Dynamics
• The outer ring provides the magnitude of the force applied, showing the total load or weight being carried.
• The inner area adds information about the velocity of the weight shift, allowing the body to understand how fast and in what direction the weight is being transferred.
When these two zones work together, they provide a comprehensive picture of impact—combining weight and speed information—crucial for balance, locomotion, and adapting to different surfaces during movement.
This system could also influence:
• Force production, by dynamically adjusting based on the sensed impact.
• Balance and stability, by adapting to how quickly and heavily forces are applied.
• Energy efficiency, by optimizing recoil through precise sensing of load and speed transitions.