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Somatosensation

Somatosensation

The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at the...

Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure

Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure

The process of olfaction, also known as the sense of smell, is a sophisticated chemical response system. The specialized sensory neurons that facilitate this process, known as olfactory receptor neurons, are situated in an upper segment of the nasal cavity, known as the olfactory epithelium. Olfactory sensory neurons are bipolar, with their dendrites extending from the epithelium's apex into the mucus that lines the nasal cavity. Airborne molecules, when inhaled, traverse the olfactory...

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

The somatosensory system is the central and peripheral nervous system component that senses and processes touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and body position or proprioception. The process of sensation takes place at three levels:
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the stimulus...

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the posterior columns...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 26, 2026

A Large Lateral Craniotomy Procedure for Mesoscale Wide-field Optical Imaging of Brain Activity

A Large Lateral Craniotomy Procedure for Mesoscale Wide-field Optical Imaging of Brain Activity

Published on: May 7, 2017

Sensory function in severe semilobar holoprosencephaly.

Alki Liasis¹, Darius Hildebrand, Chris Clark

¹Academic and Clinical Department of Ophthalmology, Great Ormond St Hospital for Children, London, UK. LiasiA@gosh.nhs.uk

|January 21, 2009

Summary

This study shows electrophysiological measures can detect sensory processing in a child with severe holoprosencephaly (HPE), even when brain anatomy suggests otherwise. These findings highlight unexpected neural capabilities in HPE patients.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Neuroscience
Clinical Neurology

Background:

Severe semi-lobar holoprosencephaly (HPE) is a congenital brain malformation often associated with severe neurological deficits and poor prognosis.
Standard neuroimaging in HPE typically reveals significant structural abnormalities, such as agenesis of the corpus callosum and fused thalami, suggesting limited cortical function.
Assessing sensory processing in infants and children with severe brain malformations presents unique challenges.

Observation:

A 4-year-old child with severe semi-lobar holoprosencephaly underwent detailed neuroimaging and electrophysiological assessments.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed agenesis of the corpus callosum, absence of the third ventricle, and fused thalami and basal ganglia.
Visual, auditory, and somatosensory evoked potentials were investigated to evaluate sensory pathway integrity.

Findings:

Visual evoked potentials showed differential responses to face stimuli compared to checkerboard patterns, with greater activity on the left.
Auditory evoked potentials were detected in the frontal regions for both pure tones and speech stimuli.
No consistent scalp somatosensory evoked potentials were observed, indicating potential limitations in processing tactile information.

Implications:

Electrophysiological measures can identify and quantify sensory processing in individuals with severe brain malformations like HPE, challenging assumptions based solely on anatomical presentation.
This case demonstrates the potential for residual or alternative sensory pathways to function despite profound structural brain abnormalities.
The findings underscore the importance of multimodal assessment, combining imaging and electrophysiology, for a comprehensive understanding of neurological function in congenital brain disorders.