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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.

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth Perception and Spatial Vision

Depth perception is the ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally. It relies on two types of cues: binocular and monocular. Binocular cues depend on the combination of images from both eyes and how the eyes work together. Since the eyes are in slightly different positions, each eye captures a slightly different image. This disparity between images, known as binocular disparity, helps the brain interpret depth. When the brain compares these images, it determines the distance to an object.

Tactile and Chemical Senses

Tactile and Chemical Senses

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.

Perceptual Constancy

Perceptual Constancy

Perceptual constancy is the ability to recognize that objects remain consistent and unchanged even when their appearance varies due to changes in sensory input. There are four main types of perceptual constancy: size constancy, shape constancy, color constancy, and brightness constancy.
Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...

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...

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Gestalt Principles of Perception

Gestalt principles provide a framework for understanding how humans perceive objects as unified wholes within their context. These principles are essential in explaining the cognitive processes that make sense of complex visual stimuli by organizing them into coherent groups. One fundamental principle is proximity, which posits that objects located close to each other are perceived as a collective group. For instance, when dots are positioned near one another, the visual system interprets them...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 26, 2026

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

Published on: May 23, 2019

An Adaptation-Induced Repulsion Illusion in Tactile Spatial Perception.

Lux Li¹, Arielle Chan¹, Shah M Iqbal¹

¹Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster UniversityHamilton, ON, Canada.

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

|July 14, 2017

Summary

Focal skin adaptation can create a tactile repulsion illusion, making perceived distances between points feel larger. This finding suggests similar sensory coding strategies across different senses.

Keywords:

aftereffect human perceptual inference psychophysics sensory adaptation somatosensory tactile illusion two-point perception

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Last Updated: Feb 26, 2026

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

Applying Incongruent Visual-Tactile Stimuli during Object Transfer with Vibro-Tactile Feedback

Published on: May 23, 2019

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator TSPAS

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Published on: July 30, 2020

Assessment of Spatial Lingual Tactile Sensitivity using a Gratings Orientation Test

Assessment of Spatial Lingual Tactile Sensitivity using a Gratings Orientation Test

Published on: September 17, 2021

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Sensory Perception
Psychophysics

Background:

Focal sensory adaptation often leads to exaggerated perceived separation of stimuli in vision.
Repulsion illusions, where stimuli appear farther apart after adaptation, are less studied in nonvisual senses.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if focal adaptation induces a repulsion illusion in tactile spatial perception.
To explore the mechanisms of tactile spatial representation.

Main Methods:

A two-interval forced-choice task was used to compare perceived separation of tactile stimuli on forearms.
Focal skin vibration was applied to induce adaptation and reduce tactile sensitivity.
Monofilament detection thresholds measured tactile sensitivity changes.

Main Results:

Baseline measurements confirmed unbiased and stable tactile distance perception.
Vibration focally reduced tactile sensitivity in the adapted region.
Applying vibration between two tactile points caused an illusory increase in their perceived separation.

Conclusions:

Focal adaptation induces a tactile repulsion aftereffect illusion.
This illusion offers insights into how the tactile system encodes spatial information.
Cross-sensory repulsion aftereffects may indicate fundamental similarities in sensory coding strategies.