Sciatic nerve behind (superficial to) the adductor magnus muscle, and is itself in front of (deep to) one head of the biceps femoris muscle. At the popliteal fossa, the nerve divides into its two branches: The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the human body. The sciatic nerve supplies sensation to the skin of the foot, as well as the entire lower leg (except for its inner side). Sensation to skin to the sole of the foot is provided by the tibial nerve, and the lower leg and upper surface of the foot via the common fibular nerve. The sciatic nerve
Nerve supply to the skin almost any given stimulus to the human skin can potentially activate a very large number of nerve terminals. Therefore, it is more likely that a stimulus caused by the prick of a needle be detected by more than a hundred nerve endings all sharing the same receptive field, than for that same needle prick to be detected by only one nerve ending. The different kinds of sensory stimuli that are picked up by sensory neurons are grouped into two categories: epicritic and protopathic. Epicritic neurons detect gentle touch such as caresses; light vibrations; the ability to recognize the shape of