What are the parts of the somatosensory system?
The somatosensory system consists of primary, secondary, and tertiary neurons. Sensory receptors housed in the dorsal root ganglia project to secondary neurons of the spinal cord that decussate and project to the thalamus or cerebellum.
What is the human somatosensory system?
The somatosensory system is also known as the somatic senses, touch or tactile perception. Anatomically speaking, the somatosensory system is a network of neurons that help humans recognize objects, discriminate textures, generate sensory-motor feedback and exchange social cues.
How is the somatosensory system organized?
Somatosensory neurons are topographically (i.e., spatially) organized so that adjacent neurons represent neighboring regions of the body or face (Figure 4.4). This organization is preserved by a precise point-to-point somatotopic pattern of connections from the spinal cord and brain stem to the thalamus and cortex.
Why are somatosensory systems important?
The somatosensory systems inform us about objects in our external environment through touch (i.e., physical contact with skin) and about the position and movement of our body parts (proprioception) through the stimulation of muscle and joints.
Where is somatosensory?
parietal lobe
The primary somatosensory cortex (SI) is located in the anterior part of the parietal lobe, where it constitutes the postcentral gyrus.
Why is the somatosensory system important?
The somatosensory system is distributed throughout all major parts of our body. It is responsible for sensing touch, temperature, posture, limb position, and more. It includes both sensory receptor neurons in the periphery (eg., skin, muscle, and organs) and deeper neurons within the central nervous system.
What are the types of somatosensory receptors?
Sensory receptors are classified into five categories: mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors, proprioceptors, pain receptors, and chemoreceptors. These categories are based on the nature of the stimuli that each receptor class transduces.