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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.
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...
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

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.
Design Example: Resistive Touchscreen01:14

Design Example: Resistive Touchscreen

A device engineer plays a crucial role in designing user interfaces for mobile devices. One such interface is the resistive touchscreen, which fundamentally consists of two metallic layers: a flexible upper layer and a rigid lower layer, separated by a narrow gap. The high resistance between these two layers is a key characteristic of this design.
When a user touches the screen, the two layers make contact at a specific point known as the touchpoint. This contact reduces the resistance between...
Sensory Modalities01:15

Sensory Modalities

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...
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...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator (TSPAS)
04:40

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator (TSPAS)

Published on: July 30, 2020

Gaze-centered spatial coding of touch on a hand-held tool.

Lefteris Zografos Themelis1, W Pieter Medendorp2, Luke E Miller2

  • 1Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Sensorimotor Control, University Mental Health Neurosciences and Precision Medicine Research Institute "COSTAS STEFANIS", Athens, Greece.

Journal of Neurophysiology
|May 21, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Humans can extend their sense of touch onto tools, a phenomenon explained by remapping sensory feedback into an egocentric coordinate system. This study reveals the computational basis for projecting touch onto external objects.

Keywords:
Tool useembodimentsensorimotorsensory projectionsomatosensory

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 23, 2026

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator (TSPAS)
04:40

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator (TSPAS)

Published on: July 30, 2020

Estimation of Contact Regions Between Hands and Objects During Human Multi-Digit Grasping
09:41

Estimation of Contact Regions Between Hands and Objects During Human Multi-Digit Grasping

Published on: April 21, 2023

A Tactile Automated Passive-Finger Stimulator (TAPS)
19:44

A Tactile Automated Passive-Finger Stimulator (TAPS)

Published on: June 3, 2009

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Human sensorimotor system
  • Perception

Background:

  • Humans can project tactile sensations onto tools, but the underlying computational mechanisms remain unclear.
  • Previous research has not fully addressed the processes involved in tool-based sensory projection.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the computational basis of tactile projection onto hand-held tools.
  • To test the hypothesis that tool-based sensory projection involves remapping touch into an egocentric coordinate system.

Main Methods:

  • Employed model-driven psychophysics and a novel tool-sensing experiment.
  • Participants judged object location relative to gaze while holding a rod contacting an object.
  • Varied object location and gaze position independently to analyze remapping.

Main Results:

  • Strong evidence that participants projected touch outside their body into gaze-centered coordinates.
  • The resolution of touch projection onto the tool was comparable to touch on the body.
  • Confirmed the hand-to-space-to-gaze remapping process.

Conclusions:

  • Provides the first characterization of computations underlying spatial touch projection onto external objects.
  • Highlights the sensorimotor system's remarkable versatility in extending tactile perception.
  • Suggests touch remapping is a key mechanism for tool use.