Download The Somatic Sensory System and Touch

January 14, 2016
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Journal: What are the names of the two types of
photoreceptors in the eye? What are their functions?
TOUCH
Somatic Sensory System
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Provides sensory input
Touch = somatic sensation
Motor neurons located in ventral horns of the spinal
cord connect directly to the muscles
Three pathways that carry sensory
information to your brain:
 Dorsal
column tract carries finetouch and vibration information
to your cerebrum
 Spinothalamic tract carries
temperature, pain, and basic
touch information to your
cerebrum
 Spinocerebellar tract carries
information about posture and
position to your cerebellum
How you respond to touch:
1.
2.
3.
Sensory neurons on your skin or joints detect a stimulus
Sends signal along neighboring neurons to the spinal cord
Spinal cord carries the signal up to the parietal lobe of the
brain. This allows you to understand the stimulus.
How you respond to touch:
4. Then, the signal is sent to
the somatic motor system
located in the frontal
lobe, which will
determine what
movement should be
made in order to
respond to the stimulus.
5. The plan for movement
then leaves the frontal
lobe and travels along
neurons to the thalamus
How you respond to touch:
6. In the thalamus coordinates the movement of the
body
7. Then the movement information is sent down the
brain stem and spinal cord to the skeletal muscles
that have planned to carry out movement
To sum up how you respond to touch:
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Stimulus detected
Spinal cord
Parietal lobe
Frontal lobe
Thalamus
Back down the brain stem to the spinal cord
To the muscles designated to move
** Cerebellum makes the actual movements match the
planned movements but scientists aren’t exactly sure
how yet