Final answer:
The sensory nerve fibers respond to heat, cold, pain, pressure, and touch. These include receptors like free nerve endings responding to painful stimuli and others like Meissner's corpuscles for light touch. Different receptors play roles in sensing external stimuli and aiding in balance and posture. The correct option is a.
Step-by-step explanation:
The nerves that react to heat, cold, pain, pressure, and touch are known as sensory nerve fibers. These fibers are part of the sensory neurons in the skin and serve various functions, including thermoception (temperature perception) and nociception (a signal indicating potential harm and maybe pain). They are essential for our ability to react to environmental stimuli.
In response to stimuli from the sympathetic nervous system, the arrector pili muscles are responsible for causing goosebumps. The various receptor types, like free nerve endings, Meissner's corpuscles, Pacinian corpuscles, and hair receptors, detect and respond to different sensory inputs, informing the central nervous system through connections to the spinal cord and brain.
For instance, free nerve endings are responsible for sensing painful stimuli and are most likely the type of receptor you would burn if you sustained an injury to the epidermis. Nociception specifically responds to injured stimuli and is felt as pain, while sensations crucial to balance and body posture like deep, fleeting pressure are detected by different receptors, such as the auditory nerve.
Therefore, the correct option is a.