What you will learn today . . .

• Sense organs are loaded with receptors• Touch receptors are distributed throughout

the body, but some are more closely grouped than others; some can respond to a weaker stimulus than others

TOUCH

Random Facts About the Sense of TOUCH

o The least sensitive part of your body is the middle of your back

o There are about 100 touch receptors in each of your fingertips, making it one of the most sensitive parts of your body

o You have more pain receptors than any other type

o Your skin, the receptor for touch, makes up 15% of your body weight

The Receptor Region: The Skin

The TOUCH Pathway

• Signals for touch are received in the dermis layer of the skin. These receptors recognize four kinds of touch:– Pressure– Cold and Heat– Body Position– Pain

The TOUCH Pathway

• The touch signal travels to the spinal cord using the somatosensory system of nerves and then the brain, where that signal is processed

“DO I KEEP TOUCHING

THIS OR NOT? “

What you will do today?

Test the sensitivity of the skin from different parts of the body: elbow, shoulder blade, fingertip, palm, back of hand, forearm, and back of neck

1. Use paper fasteners at different distances to see which areas can distinguish one or two points

2. Use different colored markers to see which areas can localize a touch