Lecture on Touch and Sensation

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to the physiological and psychological aspects of touch, including types of receptors, pathways of sensation, and the perception of pain.

Tactile Sensitivity

The ability to detect and discriminate tactile stimuli, such as pressure and texture, on the skin.

Kinesthesia

The perception of the position and movement of our limbs in space, mediated by internal sensations from muscles, tendons, and joints.

Proprioception

The sense of the relative position of one's own body parts and the strength of effort employed in movement.

Somatosensation

Collective sensory signals from the skin, muscles, tendons, joints, and internal receptors.

Mechanoreceptors

Receptors that respond to mechanical disturbance, such as pressure, vibration, or movement.

Two-point threshold

The minimum distance at which two stimuli are perceived as distinct on the skin.

Nociceptors

Receptors that transmit information about damaging stimuli that could harm tissues; involved in the sensation of pain.

Thermoreceptors

Receptors that detect temperature changes; include warmth and cold fibers.

Haptic Perception

Knowledge of the world derived from sensory receptors in the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints, often through active exploration.

Gate Control Theory

A theory that explains how psychological factors may influence the perception of pain; suggests signals from nociceptors can be modulated by other nerve fibers.

Pleasant touch receptors

Unmyelinated C fibers (C tactile afferents) that respond to slow and light stimulation, eliciting emotional responses.

Analgesia

The process of reducing or blocking the sensation of pain.

Hyperalgesia

Increased sensitivity to painful stimuli due to changes in the nervous system.

Allodynia

A condition where non-painful stimuli are perceived as painful.

Dorsal column-medial lemniscal pathway

A neural pathway that carries tactile and kinesthetic information from the spinal cord to the brain.

Spinothalamic pathway

A neural pathway that transmits information from thermoreceptors and nociceptors (related to pain and temperature) to the brain.

Haptic Egocenter

The reference point used by the brain to process touch sensations relative to the body.

Afferent neurons

Nerve cells that carry sensory signals toward the central nervous system.

Proprioceptive fibers

Fibers that provide information about the body's position in space, primarily found in muscles and tendons.