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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.
Encoding01:19

Encoding

Information enters the brain through encoding, which is the input of information into the memory system. Once sensory information is received from the environment, the brain labels or codes it. The information is then organized with similar information and connected to existing concepts. Encoding occurs through automatic processing and effortful processing.
Automatic processing involves the encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words, usually done without conscious...
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...
Implicit Memories01:24

Implicit Memories

Implicit memories, also known as non-declarative memories, are long-term memories that function outside of conscious awareness. These memories influence behavior and skills without explicit knowledge. This type of memory is evident in tasks like playing tennis, snowboarding, and texting. Implicit memory has three subsystems: procedural memory, conditioning, and priming. This type of memory is essential in various activities, from everyday tasks to specialized skills.
One key aspect of implicit...
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...
Sensory Functions of the Skin01:16

Sensory Functions of the Skin

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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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

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

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator (TSPAS)

Published on: July 30, 2020

Body-centered encoding of passive tactile pattern memories.

Shreyas Indurkar1,2, Betül Kayacik3, Peng Liu3,4

  • 1Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (HIH), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. shreyas.indurkar@uni-tuebingen.de.

Scientific Reports
|May 28, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The human brain encodes tactile memories in a body-centered frame, not an external one. This means touch memories are linked to the body part, regardless of hand position or visual cues.

Keywords:
Contextual learningEpisodic memoryExplicit memoryMultisensory integrationPassive touchTactile discriminationVibrotactile stimulation

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 31, 2026

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

Tactile Semiautomatic Passive-Finger Angle Stimulator (TSPAS)

Published on: July 30, 2020

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

A Tactile Automated Passive-Finger Stimulator (TAPS)

Published on: June 3, 2009

Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans
04:27

Using Facial Electromyography to Assess Facial Muscle Reactions to Experienced and Observed Affective Touch in Humans

Published on: March 15, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Sensory Perception

Background:

  • The human brain retains tactile experiences for object recognition and memory recall.
  • The spatial coding of tactile body memories remains poorly understood.
  • It is unclear if tactile memories are stored in a body-centered or external reference frame.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the spatial reference frame used for encoding tactile body memories.
  • To determine if tactile pattern retrieval is influenced by hand posture or visual context.
  • To test the hypothesis that body-centered encoding is evidenced by a lack of influence from external factors.

Main Methods:

  • A passive tactile pattern memory task was employed.
  • The crossed-hands paradigm was used to manipulate hand position.
  • Experiment 1 examined the effect of congruent/incongruent hand positions during learning and retrieval.
  • Experiment 2 assessed the influence of the spatial context surrounding the hand.

Main Results:

  • Tactile pattern retrieval accuracy was not significantly influenced by hand position (Experiment 1).
  • Visual context surrounding the hand did not affect retrieval accuracy (Experiment 2).
  • The findings do not support an external reference frame for tactile memory encoding.

Conclusions:

  • Tactile body memories are encoded in a body-centered reference frame.
  • Encoding is independent of hand posture and external spatial cues.
  • Results align with clinical observations of tactile sensations being body-specific.