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Related Concept Videos

Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

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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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Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System01:11

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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

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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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Introduction to Sensory Receptors01:31

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Sensory receptors are vital in our ability to perceive and interpret the world. Sensory receptors are specialized cells in the peripheral nervous system that respond to various stimuli and enable one to experience different sensations. Based on specific criteria, sensory receptors are classified into distinct types.
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Perception of Sound Waves01:01

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The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. It may perceive sound waves with the same pressure but different frequencies as having different loudness. Moreover, the perception of sound waves depends on the health of an individual's ears, which decays with age. The health of one's ears may also be affected by regular exposure to loud noises.
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Sensory Modalities01:15

Sensory Modalities

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Sensation typically is the process by which the sensory receptors and sense organs detect stimuli from the internal and external environment and transmit this information to the central nervous system for processing.
General senses refer to the broad category of sensory information detected by receptors in the body and can be further grouped into somatic and visceral senses. Somatic sensations include touch, pressure, temperature, and pain and are essential for navigating our environment and...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 1, 2025

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A computationally informed distinction of interoception and exteroception.

Birte Toussaint1, Jakob Heinzle1, Klaas Enno Stephan2

  • 1Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich & ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
|March 3, 2024
PubMed
Summary

This study proposes a new definition for interoception and exteroception based on sensor-effector loops. It suggests that sensory inputs are classified by the regulatory control they serve, clarifying complex perceptions like skin temperature.

Keywords:
Allostatic controlBayesian inferenceBrain-body interactionsGenerative modelHomeostatic controlMental healthSensor-effector loopsThermoception

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Sensory Perception

Background:

  • The precise definition and distinction between interoception and exteroception remain debated in neuroscience.
  • Existing definitions lack a clear computational framework for classifying sensory inputs.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a functional distinction between interoception and exteroception using computational sensor-effector loop concepts.
  • To clarify the classification of sensory inputs based on the control systems they inform.
  • To re-evaluate challenging sensory perceptions like thermoception within this new framework.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis based on computational neuroscience principles.
  • Application of the sensor-effector loop model to sensory input classification.
  • Examination of thermoception as a case study for the proposed distinction.

Main Results:

  • A functional distinction is proposed where sensory inputs are categorized by the sensor-effector loop they engage.
  • Interoception is linked to loops controlling internal bodily states, while exteroception relates to environmental states.
  • Thermoception is reconceptualized as inference about the body's thermal state, coupled with thermoregulation.

Conclusions:

  • The proposed sensor-effector loop framework offers a clear functional distinction between interoception and exteroception.
  • This perspective integrates perception with regulatory control, aligning with computational theories of brain-body interactions.
  • The definition of interoception is advanced by emphasizing its role in physiological regulation.