PS102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Vestibular System, Absolute Threshold, Lamellar Corpuscle
Document Summary
Fetuses can respond to touch of hair at relatively early stage in prenatal development. Physical contact required for healthy development in infancy. When we touch/are touched, free nerve endings send tactile info into spinal cord. Its then routed to somatosensory cortex in parietal lobe. Info about pressure and vibration general transmitted to brain in similar way after being converted by neural impulses by specialized receptors. Brains process tactile info contralaterally (on opposite side of brain from side of body where touch occurred) If you touch something with left hand, somatosensory cortex on right side of brain processes. Somatosensory cortex does not have equal representation of all parts of body (ex tactile inputs from hands take up more space in cortex than inputs from back) Beyond sensory reactions, we can extend our senses mechanically (nasa virtual environment development) Ex if something is pushing very heavily on body, ruffini"s and pacinian corpuscles will sense it and send info to brain.
