Senses: touch

In this talk, the focus is senses, touch, supported by coverage of the essential roles and mechanisms of the sense of touch, including how specialized receptors detect pressure, temperature, and pain. We will explain the pathways by which tactile signals travel from the skin to the brain and how the somatosensory cortex interprets these signals. The lecture will also discuss how disturbances in the touch system can impact quality of life and highlight ongoing research aimed at improving our understanding and treatment of touch related disorders. Touch is a fundamental sense, giving us vital information about our environment and bodies. It enables us to detect objects, feel pain, perceive temperature, and experience pleasure through specialized sensory receptors in the skin and tissues. These tactile receptors fall into three main types, mechano receptors for pressure or vibration, thermo receptors for temperature changes, and nosceptors for pain. Together, they allow for the sensitivity and discrimination of touch. Mechanoreceptors are embedded at different skin depths and respond based on their structure and location. Superficial mechano receptors, Miser's corpuscles and merkel cells detect fine touch and texture while deeper ones, persinian corpuscles and ruffini endings sense vibration and stretch. Thermal receptors detect warm or cold stimuli via unmyelinated C fibers and thinly myelinated A Delta fibers.