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Related Concept Videos

Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

45.7K
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.
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Tactile and Chemical Senses01:27

Tactile and Chemical Senses

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Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex.
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Sensory Functions of the Skin01:16

Sensory Functions of the Skin

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The skin is the largest organ of the human body and plays a crucial role in our sensory perception. It contains a vast network of sensory receptors that contribute to the skin's protective function by perceiving physical, biological, and environmental cues and generating relevant responses.
There are two main categories of receptors on the skin: capsulated and non-capsulated. The non-capsulated ones are mainly the pain receptors. The capsulated ones can be further categorized based on the...
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Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System

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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...
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Introduction to Special Senses01:26

Introduction to Special Senses

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Sensory receptors play an integral part in comprehending our external and internal environments. They receive diverse stimuli, converting them into the nervous system's electrochemical signals. This conversion occurs as the stimulus alters the sensory neuron's cell membrane potential, instigating the generation of an action potential. This action potential is subsequently transmitted to the central nervous system (CNS), which integrates with other sensory data or higher cognitive...
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Perception01:28

Perception

1.8K
Perception is a fundamental psychological process that enables individuals to organize, interpret, and consciously experience sensory information. This process is crucial for understanding and interacting with the world around us. It includes both bottom-up and top-down processing, each playing a distinct role in how we perceive our environment.
Bottom-up processing begins at the sensory level, where receptors detect external environmental stimuli. These could include the tactile sensation of...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Design, Fabrication, and Administration of the Hand Active Sensation Test HASTe
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Design, Fabrication, and Administration of the Hand Active Sensation Test HASTe

Published on: September 8, 2015

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Haptic perception.

Astrid M L Kappers1, Wouter M Bergmann Tiest1

  • 1Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Cognitive Science
|August 26, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Haptic perception allows us to sense material and spatial properties, and even count objects. However, haptic illusions demonstrate that touch does not always provide accurate environmental information.

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Last Updated: Apr 5, 2026

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Science
  • Neuroscience
  • Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

  • Growing interest in haptic perception driven by novel applications.
  • Haptic perception encompasses sensing material properties (e.g., roughness, friction) and spatial properties (e.g., shape, size).
  • The ability to determine the number of objects through touch (counting or subitizing) is also a key aspect.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of haptic perception.
  • To discuss the various sensory inputs and cognitive processes involved in touch.
  • To highlight the relevance of haptic perception for both fundamental research and technological development.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review and synthesis of existing research on haptic perception.
  • Discussion of psychophysical principles underlying tactile and kinesthetic sensing.
  • Analysis of experimental findings related to haptic illusions and object recognition.

Main Results:

  • Detailed examination of the perception of material properties like texture, compliance, and temperature.
  • Exploration of the perception of spatial attributes, including form, orientation, and size.
  • Demonstration of haptic illusions that challenge the veridicality of touch.

Conclusions:

  • Haptic perception is a complex sensory modality crucial for interacting with the environment.
  • Understanding haptic perception is vital for advancing the design and functionality of haptic devices.
  • Future applications in areas like virtual reality and robotics will benefit from this knowledge.