Touch and Pain Flashcards
The largest sense organ in the body is known as…?
Skin
True or False?
Skin is the smallest sense organ in the body
False
Skin is the largest sense organ in the body
On average, what is the area m^2 of human skin?
1.8 m^2
On average, what is the weight in kg of human skin?
5 kg
What are the 2 types of skin?
1) Glabrous
2) Hairy
Where is glabrous skin found on the human body?
Palms of hands and feet
Where is hairy skin found on the human body?
Everywhere but the palms of hands and feet
What type of skin covers everywhere but the palms of hands and feet?
Hairy
What type of skin covers only the palms of hands and feet?
Glabrous
Describe the physiology of skin senses. List 4 steps
1) Stimulus makes contact with the skin
2) Receptors in the skin fire; sends signals
3) Signal travels to the brain via the spinal cord
4) Signal reaches the somatosensory cortex on the opposite side of the body
(e.g. signals from the left side of the body reach the right side of the brain)
Receptors are sensitive to many kinds of energy and give rise to at least 4 senses. What are they?
1) Touch (mechanical stimuli)
2) Pain
3) Body sense (proprioception; where our body is in space)
4) Temperature
Each mechanoreceptor responds to a touch stimulus in a specific area of the skin.
This is known as…?
A region called the receptive field of the receptor
What is a receptive field of the skin receptor?
A region where each mechanoreceptor responds to a touch stimulus in a specific area of the skin
List the 4 primary tactile receptors (mechanoreceptors) of the human skin
1) Merkel (tactile) disc
2) Meissner corpuscle
3) Ruffini corpuscle
4) Pacinian corpuscle
List the 2 primary tactile receptors (mechanoreceptors) of the human skin that are closer to the surface of the skin
1) Merkel (tactile) disc
2) Meissner corpuscle
List the 2 primary tactile receptors (mechanoreceptors) of the human skin that are located deeper in the skin
1) Ruffini corpuscle
2) Pacinian corpuscle
Are the Ruffini corpuscle and Pacinian corpuscle located near the surface of the skin or deeper?
Deeper in the skin
Are the Merkel (tactile) disc and Meissner corpuscle located near the surface of the skin or deeper?
Near the surface of the skin
What is the Merkel (tactile) disc skin receptor sensitive to?
Fine details (e.g. braille or telling apart texture)
What is the Meissner corpuscle skin receptor sensitive to?
Flutter (e.g. object slipping through fingers)
e.g. Picking up a raw egg by holding it with the right amount of pressure to not crush it but also not drop it
What is the Ruffini corpuscle skin receptor sensitive to?
Stretching (e.g. due to picking up something)
What is the Pacinian corpuscle skin receptor sensitive to?
Vibration, fine texture (e.g. using a tool)
e.g. using a pen and feeling the vibrations coming through the pen (fine spacial detail)
Which tactile skin receptor looks like an onion n?
Paccinian corpuscle
Which tactile receptor is mostly found in the fingertips?
Merkel’s disc