PSY100H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Spinal Cord, Proprioception, Nociception

• School: UTSG
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY100H1
• Professor: Dan Dolderman

Document Summary

Using touch, we can acquire information about texture, temperature and pressure upon the skin. The receptors located just beneath the surface of the skin, and also in the muscles, joints, and tendons sends information to the somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes region associated with sense of touch. Sensitivity to touch varies around the bound: e. g. testing acuity (sensitivity) is used to demonstrate this. Regions with high acuity (fingertips, palms, lips), can detect 2 separate, closely-spaced pressure points of a device. Haptics is the active, exploratory aspect of touch sensation and perception: allows us to identify objects, but to also avoid damaging or dropping them. Nociception the activity of nerve pathways that respond to uncomfortable stimulation. Nociceptors receptors that initiate pain messages that travel to the nervous system: present in; skin, teeth corneas and internal organs. 2 types of nerve fibres transmit pain messages; fast fibres register sharp, immediate pain: slow fibres register chronic, dull pain.