Understanding touch (somatosensory) – how the five senses work
From the book – Chapter 19: How Five Senses Actually Work
Touch (somatosensory)
How it works
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Sensory receptors in skin detect pressure, vibration, temperature, and pain. Different receptors for different sensations.
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Signals travel via peripheral nerves to the spinal cord.
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The spinal cord sends signals to the brainstem and thalamus.
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Somatosensory cortex (parietal lobe) processes touch.
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The brain creates a map of body sensations (homunculus).
Key structures: skin receptors, peripheral nerves, spinal cord; thalamus; somatosensory cortex.
Mental health connection
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Touch deprivation is linked to anxiety, depression, and developmental issues.
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Self-harm involves altered pain perception — this is a reason to seek care, not a method.
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Mindfulness practices use body awareness and touch.
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Therapeutic touch can reduce stress and anxiety.
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Chronic pain is strongly associated with depression and anxiety.
Read the full chapter – Chapter 19: How Five Senses Actually Work
Stories from real life
- The Grandfather Who Stopped Coming to the Table – Raghunath Kulkarni, seventy-one, used to be the loudest voice at the family dinner in Nashik. He argued about cricket, teased his grandchildren and told the same…
- The Dark Months in Helsinki – Aino Virtanen was twenty-three when she moved from Chennai to Helsinki for her master's degree. September was beautiful. By November the sun rose late and set…
- Mihir and the Scratchy Shirt – Mihir, seven, cried every morning about his school uniform. 'It scratches! The tag is stabbing me!' His parents in Ahmedabad thought he was making excuses to…
- Leela, Age 41 – Two years after surviving a terrifying kitchen fire, forty-one-year-old Leela realised something strange was happening to her nervous system. Whenever she encountered the smell of a…
Shloks
- Bhagavad Gita 15.9 – Presiding over ear, eye, touch, taste and smell, and over the mind, the person enjoys the objects.
More on this topic: The brain, hormones and body chemistry behind your moods
More questions
- How it works? (Chapter 19)
- Mental health connection – touch (somatosensory)
- Understanding sensory integration – how the five senses work
- What is true: visual signals from the eyes travel to the brain via the…?
- What is true: sound waves are converted to neural signals in the…?
- Which sense bypasses the thalamus and goes directly to the limbic system?
- What is true: taste information is processed primarily in the…?
- What is true: the retina in the eye contains…?
- What does Bhagavad Gita 15.9 mean for the mind? (Chapter 19)
- The Grandfather Who Stopped Coming to the Table – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do