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Related Concept Videos

Somatosensation01:33

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.
The Vestibular System01:29

The Vestibular System

The vestibular system is a set of inner ear structures that provide a sense of balance and spatial orientation. This system is comprised of structures within the labyrinth of the inner ear, including the cochlea and two otolith organs—the utricle and saccule. The labyrinth also contains three semicircular canals—superior, posterior, and horizontal—that are oriented on different planes.
Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

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...
Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

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...
Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways01:29

Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways

Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

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: May 23, 2026

Using Eye-tracking to Assess the Relative Importance of Visual and Vestibular Input to Subcortical Motion Processing in the Roll Plane
07:24

Using Eye-tracking to Assess the Relative Importance of Visual and Vestibular Input to Subcortical Motion Processing in the Roll Plane

Published on: August 22, 2025

Vestibular inputs modulate somatosensory cortical processing.

Elisa Raffaella Ferrè1, Gabriella Bottini, Patrick Haggard

  • 1Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (ICN), University College London, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK.

Brain Structure & Function
|April 3, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Vestibular stimulation enhances somatosensory processing, specifically the N80 brainwave component. This finding provides the first direct link between brain structure and the functional interaction of vestibular and somatosensory systems.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Integration
  • Vestibular System Research

Background:

  • The vestibular system uniquely integrates multisensory information.
  • Vestibular stimulation activates somatosensory areas, suggesting perceptual interaction.
  • The precise mechanism of vestibular-somatosensory interaction remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the functional mechanism of vestibular-somatosensory perceptual interaction.
  • To determine how vestibular stimulation affects somatosensory processing.
  • To explore the role of the parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC) in this interaction.

Main Methods:

  • Recorded somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) using median nerve stimulation.
  • Administered cold caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) to healthy volunteers.
  • Measured changes in SEP components before and after CVS.
  • Recorded visual evoked potentials (VEPs) as a control.

Main Results:

  • Cold caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) selectively enhanced the N80 SEP component.
  • This enhancement occurred in both ipsilateral and contralateral somatosensory areas.
  • No significant effects were observed on earlier or later SEP components.
  • Vestibular stimulation did not affect visual evoked potentials (VEPs).

Conclusions:

  • The N80 component, localized to the parietal operculum (human PIVC homologue), is a key site for vestibular-somatosensory convergence.
  • Results provide the first evidence linking brain structure to function in vestibular-somatosensory interactions.
  • The findings rule out general arousal or attention as explanations for the observed effects.