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Definition
| Touch in which the observer plays an active role in touching and exploring an object, usually with his or her hands. |
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Definition
| The exaggerated cortical representation of one part of a sensory dimension or surface compared to another. |
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| The ability to perceive sensations, such as touch, temperature, and pain that are based on stimulation of receptors in the skin. |
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Definition
| The layer of skin below the epidermis. |
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Definition
| The outer layers of the skin, including a layer of dead skin cells. |
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| The perception of body movements. It involves being able to detect changes in body position and movements based on proprioception and the vestibular system (the latter will be discussed in the lectures on audition). |
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Definition
| Receptor that responds to mechanical stimulation, such as pressure, stretching, or vibration. |
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Definition
| A rapidly adapting mechanoreceptor in the skin. It has been proposed that the Meissner corpuscle is important for perceiving tactile slip and for controlling the force needed to grip objects. |
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Definition
| A disk-shaped mechanoreceptor in the skin associated with slowly adapting fibers and the perception of fine details. |
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Definition
| A fiber that responds to stimuli that are damaging to the skin. |
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Definition
| A mechanoreceptor in the skin with a distinctive elliptical shape. It transmits pressure to the nerve fibers inside it only at the beginning and the end of a pressure stimulus, and is responsible for our perception of vibration and the fine textures that are perceived when moving the fingers over a surface |
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Definition
| A situation in which a person passively receives tactile stimulation. |
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Definition
| A person’s continued perception (often including pain) of a limb, such as an arm or a leg, even though that limb has been amputated |
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Definition
| The sensing of the position and movement of the limbs. |
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Definition
| A neuronal coding principle in which the firing rate of a neuron carries information about the stimulus. It is often associated with neural coding of magnitude (intensity of pressure, stretch, light intensity, or loudness). |
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Term
| Rapidly adapting (RA) receptor |
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Definition
| Mechanoreceptors that respond with bursts of firing just at the onset and offset of a pressure stimulus. The Meissner corpuscle and the Pacinian corpuscle are rapidly adapting receptor. |
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Term
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Definition
| A mechanoreceptor structure in the skin associated with slowly adapting fibers. It has been proposed that the Ruffini cylinder is involved in perceiving “stretching”. |
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Term
| Slowly adapting (SA) receptors |
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Definition
| Mechanoreceptors located in the epidermis and the dermis that respond with prolonged firing to continued pressure. The Merkel receptor and the Ruffini cylinder are slowly adapting mechanoreceptors. |
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Definition
| The system that includes the cutaneous senses (senses involving the skin) and proprioception (the sense of the position and movement of the limbs). |
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Term
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Definition
| The smallest separation between two points on the skin that is perceived as two points; a measure of acuity on the skin. |
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