The somatosensory tracts (also referred to as the somatosensory system or somatosensory pathways)
process information about somatic sensations such as pain, temperature, touch, position, and vibration
. This information is received through receptors inside or at the surface of the body.
What are characteristics of somatosensory pathways?
each pathway transmits information to different regions of the brain. Which are characteristic of somatosensory pathways?
Either sensory information or motor impulses
.
What does the somatosensory system do?
The somatosensory system is the part of the sensory system concerned with
the conscious perception of touch, pressure, pain, temperature, position, movement, and vibration
, which arise from the muscles, joints, skin, and fascia.
What are the three major functions of the somatosensory system?
The somatosensory system serves three major functions;
exteroreceptive and interoceptive
, for our perception and reaction to stimuli originating outside and inside of the body, respectively, and proprioceptive functions, for the perception and control of body position and balance.
What are the two major somatosensory pathways?
The somatosensory system consists of the two main paired pathways that take somatosensory information up to the brain:
the medial lemniscal or posterior pathway, and the spinothalamic or anterolateral pathway
. The somatosensory pathways are made up of a relay of four neurons.
What is the difference between sensory and somatosensory?
As adjectives the difference between sensory and somatosensory. is that
sensory is of the senses or sensation
while somatosensory is (biology) of or pertaining to the perception of sensory stimuli produced by the skin or internal organs.
Which are examples of somatosensory senses?
- pain.
- temperature.
- tickle.
- itch.
- some touch sensations.
What are the simplest nerve pathways in the body?
The simplest type of neural pathway is
a monosynaptic (single connection) reflex pathway
, like the knee-jerk reflex. When the doctor taps the right spot on your knee with a rubber hammer, receptors send a signal into the spinal cord through a sensory neuron.
What are the 3 sensory pathways?
- In the periphery, the primary neuron is the sensory receptor that detects sensory stimuli like touch or temperature. …
- The secondary neuron acts as a relay and is located in either the spinal cord or the brainstem.
What are the pain pathways?
Typically, pain can be classified into three types—
nociceptive, neuropathic and inflammatory pain
, based on three characteristics, such as symptoms, mechanisms and syndromes.
What is somatosensory disorder?
any disorder of sensory information received from the skin and deep tissue of the body that is associated with impaired or abnormal somatic sensation
. Such disorders may affect proprioception and the perception of pain, touch, or temperature.
How do you feel when you touch?
Cortical Maps and Sensitivity to Touch
Sensations begin as
signals generated by touch receptors in your skin
. They travel along sensory nerves made up of bundled fibers that connect to neurons in the spinal cord. Then signals move to the thalamus, which relays information to the rest of the brain.
What happens after damage to the somatosensory system?
Finally, somatosensory cortex damage can
produce numbness or tingling/prickling sensations in certain
parts of the body (i.e. paresthesia). Since the face and hands have the most receptors and take up the largest area of the cortex, they are vulnerable to numbness and/or tingling.
What is the somatosensory system made of?
The somatosensory system is composed of a
set of ascending pathways
, each carrying a specific sensory modality from the spinal cord and brainstem to the thalamus and postcentral gyrus of the cerebral cortex, reticular formation, or cerebellum.
Which part is largest in somatosensory homunculus?
postcentral gyrus
: A prominent structure in the parietal lobe of the human brain and an important landmark that is the location of the primary somatosensory cortex, the main sensory receptive area for the sense of touch.
Which is a somatosensory stimulus?
The adequate somatosensory stimulus (i.e., the stimulus to which a somatosensory neuron is most sensitive) is either
a mechanical force
, a temperature change, tissue damage, or a chemical action. The discriminative touch and proprioceptive systems are most sensitive to mechanical force.
