Feeling things (aka Touch)

Joshua Havelin, Ph.D.

Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences

Grades 5-8

The Sense of

Touch

Did you know that there are special sensors in your fingers, toes, eyes and nose that help you feel the things around you? These are responsible for your sense of touch.

This is a cross-section of your skin. You can see all the different sensors.

Image credit: https://biologyboom.com/write-a-note-on-mechanoreceptors-tactile-receptors-in-the-skin/

Loading...

There are many different types of sensors that detect different feelings. All of these sensors connect to special cells in your body called “neurons”, and these neurons help communicate this information to your brain!

Loading...

Loading...

Neurons are some of the cells that make up your nerves, and your nerves connect your brain to your entire body.

Loading...

nerves

Loading...

Loading...

All of the skin on your body is full of tiny microscopic sensors that help you interact and feel the world around! They help you tell whether something is hot, like a cup of hot cocoa, or heavy like a weight at the gym, or even scratchy like a wool sweater or sandpaper!

Loading...

Lets take a closer look at what’s under your skin!

Loading...

Your skin is covered with sensors that help you tell the difference between hot and cold!

These are called thermoreceptors and they help you avoid burning your hand on a stove, or freezing your hand on cold medal in the middle of winter!

You also have specialized sensors that help you tell when you’ve touched something, like picking up a baseball or grabbing onto a door handle. These specialized sensors are called Meissner’s Corpuscles!

Meet an animal with super senses!

The star-nosed mole 

The star-nosed mole is a small mole found in northern parts of North America. It is a unique animal that has a touch organ on it's face that has more than 25,000 sensory receptors. These receptors are known as Eismer's organs and they can detect seismic wave vibrations. It is through these vibrations it is able to sense or detect prey.

Animals with super senses!

Narwhal

The narwhal is a type of whale that lives in arctic waters. Although few people have ever seen a narwhal, they are widely recognized for their unique tusk which lends itself to the most magical of nicknames: “unicorn of the sea.”

The narwhal’s tusk is actually an overgrown tooth, one of only two teeth they have. It was assumed that this tusk was used for breaking ice, but actually it is a giant sensory organ.

The narwhal tusk is incredibly sensitive on the outside, with up to ten million nerve endings on each one!

You also have tiny little discs deep in your skin called Pacinian Corpuscles that help feel pressure, like when you wear a heavy backpack to school!