14 DAY TRIAL // First off, fair warning: reading about how and why we get itches will probably make you want to scratch. Truth be told, I myself am starting to experience itchiness as I write.
Now, turning back to the matter at hand: researchers claim to have found an explanation for how and why people and animals get itches.
They say that, as experiments carried out on mice have shown, there is a molecular trigger for this sensation, a protein without which there would be no itch response.
The protein is named natriuretic polypeptide b, or Nppb, Nature reports.
The discovery of this protein has led scientists to the conclusion that, contrary to previous assumptions, itchiness is not just a low-level form of pain.
Quite the contrary: it is a self-standing sensation that involves the firing up of distinct neural circuits. These circuits reportedly link cells found in the periphery of the body to the brain.
“Our research reveals the primary transmitter used by itch sensory neurons and confirms that itch is detected by specialized sensory neurons,” neuroscientist Mark Hoon sums up the findings of this investigation.