Touch

Cutaneous sensation, pain, proprioception, kinesthesia
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Terms in this set (31)
Cutaneous sensation, pain, proprioception, kinesthesia
Sub-modalities of touch
Pain, pressure, temperature, vibration
Sub-modalities of cutaneous sensation
Mechanical compression, vibration, thermal transfer
What are the stimuli involved with cutaneous sensation?
1. Sensory receptors under the skin activated; signal transduction occurs in sensory neurons
2. Signal travels along axons (peripheral nerve) and into the spinal cord
3. Signal travels up the spinal cord and relays to brain stem neurons
4. Signal relays to contralateral thalamus
5. Signal relays to somatosensory cortex
Process of touch (medial lemniscal pathway)
1. Sensory receptors under the skin activated; signal transduction occurs in sensory neurons
2. Signal travels along axons (peripheral nerve) into spinal cord
3. Signal relays to intermotor neuron, motor neuron, then exits spinal cord
4. Activation of motor nerve may cause muscular response
Process of touch (reflex arc pathway)
Receptive to thermal stimuli; found on free nerve endings
Thermoreceptors
Receptive to pressure/vibration; 4 types
Mechanoreceptors
Meissners, Merkels, Ruffinis, Pacinians
4 types of mechanoreceptors
Shallow, punctate, transient, RA
Meissners
Shallow, punctate, steady pressure, SA
Merkels
Deep, diffuse, steady pressure and stretching, SARuffinisDeepest, diffuse, transient, RAPaciniansMedial-lemniscalNon-painful information is relayed via what pathway?CentralExperience-dependent plasticity represents what kind of change in the brain?Somatotopic organization and hierarchical processingWhat makes the somatosensory cortex unique?Muscle spindles, golgi tendon organs, joint receptor neurons3 sensory receptor neurons involved in proprioceptionMuscle length, density of hands, neckMuscle spindlesChanges in muscle tensionGolgi tendon organsChanges in joint movementJoint receptor neuronsParietal lobeWhat is a key region in heteromodal input (e.g. integrates information and "checks" to make sure sensory body information coming in from multiple cortical regions align)?Phantom limbsSomatoparaphreniaMain method of tactile exploration; consists of cutaneous sensation + proprioception/kinesthesiaHaptics1. Body information 2. Identification and use of objects 3. Communication 4. DevelopmentKey functions of touch-Socially reinforced -Small, receptive fields -Fine motor skills -Large receptor densityWhy do we use our hands as our primary means of touch?Deliberate removal of stimuli for one or more modalitiesDefinition of sensory deprivation-By choice/desire -1 or 2 modalities affected -Short duration -Used for comfort, safety, or relaxationCharacteristics of "good" sensory deprivation-Forced/punishment -More than 2 modalities affected -Long duration -Used for interrogation, punishment, neglectCharacteristics of "bad" sensory deprivation-Body area -Age -Sex -Temperature -Sub-modality -AdaptationFactors that influence detection of cutaneous sensationArea of body, practice, supplementary sensory input (e.g. visual, sound)Factors that influence identification of cutaneous sensationFirst absolute threshold experiment for cutaneous sensationVon Frey filamentsKnismesis and gargalesisTwo types of tickling