Touch Receptors

Pacinian Corpuscles

Deep touch receptors that respond to vibration and pressure.

What are touch receptors?

Touch receptors are sensory neurons that respond to mechanical stimuli, allowing the sensation of touch.

What are Meissner's corpuscles?

Meissner's corpuscles are touch receptors located near the surface of the skin, sensitive to light touch.

What are Merkel cells?

Merkel cells are specialized skin cells that provide the sensation of light touch and texture.

What are Ruffini endings?

Ruffini endings are slow-adapting touch receptors that respond to skin stretch and joint angle changes.

What is thermoreception?

Thermoreception is the sense of temperature, detected by specialized nerve endings in the skin.

What is nociception?

Nociception is the sensory nervous system's process of encoding and processing pain.

How do touch receptors differ?

Touch receptors differ in their response rate, adaptation speed, and the types of stimuli they detect, such as pressure or vibration.

What is the role of the thalamus in touch perception?

The thalamus acts as a relay center for sensory information, including touch, sending it to appropriate areas of the brain.

What is proprioception?

Proprioception is the sense of body position and movement, detected by receptors in muscles and joints.

What are free nerve endings?

Free nerve endings are unspecialized sensory neurons that respond to pain, temperature, and crude touch.