---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
_id: '21264'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Rodents' ability to encode the whisking phase has been extensively documented
    through neuronal recordings from ascending sensory pathways. Yet, while indicating
    that reafference originates from the mechanoreceptors, the mechanistic underpinnings
    of the whisking phase encoding within the follicle remain unclear. Here we present
    anatomical, histological, and biomechanical evidence for the presence of a distinctive
    elastic segment (ES) within the basal part of the whisker shaft inside the follicle.
    This ES, composed of immature keratin, is capable of both bending and twisting.
    Forces generated by whisker movement deform this segment, causing whisker shaft
    deflections that can stimulate specific mechanoreceptor subsets within the follicle
    at different phases of the whisking cycle. This mechanism appears to operate during
    both free‐air whisking and object contact. We propose that the ES enables torsion‐based
    mechanoreceptor activation, allowing encoding of the whisking phase.
acknowledgement: The authors wish to express their gratitude to Prof. Menahem Segal
  and Dr. Yonatan Katz for their helpful comments and discussions. The United States-Israel
  Binational Science Foundation (BSF, grant no. 2021327); The European Research Council
  (ERC) under the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant no. 786949);
  the Israel Science Foundation (ISF, grant no. 2237/20); The Weizmann-UK Collaboration
  and a research grant from the Estate of Thomas Gruen.
article_number: ar.70051
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Sebastian
  full_name: Haidarliu, Sebastian
  last_name: Haidarliu
- first_name: Guy
  full_name: Nelinger, Guy
  last_name: Nelinger
- first_name: Luka
  full_name: Gantar, Luka
  id: ed7c4564-13aa-11f0-9846-960f9afb2ddb
  last_name: Gantar
- first_name: Ehud
  full_name: Ahissar, Ehud
  last_name: Ahissar
- first_name: Inbar
  full_name: Saraf‐Sinik, Inbar
  last_name: Saraf‐Sinik
citation:
  ama: Haidarliu S, Nelinger G, Gantar L, Ahissar E, Saraf‐Sinik I. An elastic segment
    of the whisker shaft enables coding of the whisking phase via whisker torsion
    in rats and mice. <i>The Anatomical Record</i>. 2025. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.70051">10.1002/ar.70051</a>
  apa: Haidarliu, S., Nelinger, G., Gantar, L., Ahissar, E., &#38; Saraf‐Sinik, I.
    (2025). An elastic segment of the whisker shaft enables coding of the whisking
    phase via whisker torsion in rats and mice. <i>The Anatomical Record</i>. Wiley.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.70051">https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.70051</a>
  chicago: Haidarliu, Sebastian, Guy Nelinger, Luka Gantar, Ehud Ahissar, and Inbar
    Saraf‐Sinik. “An Elastic Segment of the Whisker Shaft Enables Coding of the Whisking
    Phase via Whisker Torsion in Rats and Mice.” <i>The Anatomical Record</i>. Wiley,
    2025. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.70051">https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.70051</a>.
  ieee: S. Haidarliu, G. Nelinger, L. Gantar, E. Ahissar, and I. Saraf‐Sinik, “An
    elastic segment of the whisker shaft enables coding of the whisking phase via
    whisker torsion in rats and mice,” <i>The Anatomical Record</i>. Wiley, 2025.
  ista: Haidarliu S, Nelinger G, Gantar L, Ahissar E, Saraf‐Sinik I. 2025. An elastic
    segment of the whisker shaft enables coding of the whisking phase via whisker
    torsion in rats and mice. The Anatomical Record., ar. 70051.
  mla: Haidarliu, Sebastian, et al. “An Elastic Segment of the Whisker Shaft Enables
    Coding of the Whisking Phase via Whisker Torsion in Rats and Mice.” <i>The Anatomical
    Record</i>, ar. 70051, Wiley, 2025, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.70051">10.1002/ar.70051</a>.
  short: S. Haidarliu, G. Nelinger, L. Gantar, E. Ahissar, I. Saraf‐Sinik, The Anatomical
    Record (2025).
date_created: 2026-02-17T07:44:23Z
date_published: 2025-09-09T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-02-23T10:50:27Z
day: '09'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: MaJö
doi: 10.1002/ar.70051
external_id:
  pmid:
  - '40923214'
has_accepted_license: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.70051
month: '09'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
pmid: 1
publication: The Anatomical Record
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1932-8494
  issn:
  - 1932-8486
publication_status: epub_ahead
publisher: Wiley
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: An elastic segment of the whisker shaft enables coding of the whisking phase
  via whisker torsion in rats and mice
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
year: '2025'
...