Our sense of touch allows us to receive information about our internal and external environments, making it important for sensory perception.
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Fingers
Our sense of touch allows us to receive information about our internal and external environments, making it important for sensory perception.
The first sense to develop in a human foetus is touch. At 8 weeks, a foetus responds to touch of the lips and cheeks, with other body parts responding by 14 weeks. Infants use touch to learn about the world around them and to bond with others – positive touch assists an infant’s healthy development.
Our skin
The skin is the largest organ in the human body and houses receptors that sense touch. The skin of an average adult, spread out, takes up the same space as a single blanket!
Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
Diagram of human skin structure
The epidermis is a tough coating formed from overlapping layers of dead skin cells.
The skin doesn’t just clothe your skeleton and organs. It has several other functions:
- It forms a protective layer keeping bacteria and fungi out.
- It stops the body drying out (dessication).
- Exposure to sunlight turns the skin into a vitamin D-producing organ capable of making protective oils. (Vitamin D is also important for healthy bones.)
- It produces temperature-regulating sweat, which also helps rid the body of unwanted chemicals like salt.
Your skin is made of layers of flat, stacked cells laid down into thin sheets. The three layers of the skin are the epidermisdermis and hypodermis. Skin constantly renews itself by new skin cells pushing upwards, causing older cells to fall off.
Skin also contains nerves, sensory receptors, sweat and oil glands and hair follicles.
Find out more about skin structure.
How touch works
Rights: Public domain
Skin cross-section
Skin is made of layers of flat, stacked cells laid down into thin sheets and contains nerves, sensory receptors, sweat and oil glands and follicles of hairs.
Touch receptors in the skin are nerve cells that inform the brain about tactile or touch sensations. There are two main types:
Thermoreceptors
These tell you about temperature. The two structures thought to be used for temperature detection are:
- end bulb of Krause, which detects cold
- Ruffini’s end organ, which detects heat
Mechanoreceptors
These tell your body about pushing/pulling forces and body movement and are responsible for translating these physical forces into nerve impulses. Included in this receptor group are:
- Pacinian corpuscles, which detect deep-pressure touch and high-frequency vibrations
- Meissner’s corpuscles, which are responsible for the detection of light touch and are found in the skin of the fingertips, lips, body orifices and nipples
- Merkel’s discs, which provide information relating to pressure and texture and are found in areas like fingertip ridges.
The receptors change chemical, thermal or mechanical responses into electrical signals. The signals travel along axons (the extensions of nerve cells or neurons), which form pathways along which messages travel to areas of the brain that receive and interpret them. In the brain, we interpret sensations using our previous experiences and the properties of the receptors.
The Malpighian layer of the skin is named after Italian doctor Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694). He was a pioneer in using the microscope and has been described as a founder of microscopic anatomy. Most of his research from the universities of Pisa and Messina was published by the Royal Society of England. He became the first Italian to be recognised by this learned scientific society in 1668.
Mystery box – using touch – students use only their sense of touch to put sandpaper samples in order from finest grade to coarsest grade.
Two-point discrimination – students explore how the receptors responsible for the sensation of light touch are distributed over the body.
Useful link
This article from the National Geographic website has interactives/animations and a video on the skin, skin stresses and the effects of ageing on the skin.
FAQs
1. : to bring a bodily part into contact with especially so as to perceive through the tactile sense : handle or feel gently usually with the intent to understand or appreciate. loved to touch the soft silk. 2.
What is the synonym of touch? ›
Strong matches. blow, brush, caress, collision, contingence, crash, cuddling, embrace, feel, fondling, graze, grope, handling, hit, hug, impact, junction, kiss, lick, manipulation, nudge, palpation, pat, peck, perception, percussion, petting, push, rub, rubbing, scratch, shock, stroking, tap, touching. Weak match. ...
What is touch slang for? ›
Slang. to apply to for money, or succeed in getting money from: He touched me for five dollars. Slang. to steal from.
What is the medical term for touch? ›
Tactile: Having to do with touch. For example, tactile signs of disease are signs that are perceptible by touch, such as roughness of the skin.
What does human touch mean? ›
Noun. human touch (uncountable) (idiomatic) The ability of a person to deal with others in a personable and empathetic way.
What does touching mean emotionally? ›
Britannica Dictionary definition of TOUCHING. [more touching; most touching] : having a strong emotional effect : causing feelings of sadness or sympathy. Their story was deeply/very touching.
What can I say instead of touch? ›
Synonyms of touch
- feel.
- caress.
- kiss.
- embrace.
- grasp.
- hug.
- grip.
- hold.
“Tactile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tactile.
What is a word for deeply touching? ›
Some common synonyms of touching are affecting, impressive, moving, pathetic, and poignant. While all these words mean "having the power to produce deep emotion," touching implies arousing tenderness or compassion. the touching innocence in a child's eyes.
What is a touch slang? ›
phrase. You can use a touch to mean slightly or to a small extent, especially in order to make something you say seem less extreme. For example, if you say that something is a touch expensive, you might really think that it is very expensive. [mainly British, vagueness] We were all a touch uneasy, I think.
From Middle English touchen, tochen, from Old French tochier (“to touch”) (whence Modern French toucher; compare French doublet toquer (“to offend, bother, harass”)), from Vulgar Latin *tuccō (“to knock, strike, offend”), from Frankish *tukkōn (“to knock, strike, touch”), from Proto-Germanic *tukkōną (“to tug, grab, ...
What is the psychology term for touch? ›
the ability to perceive an object or other stimulus that comes into contact with the surface of the skin (e.g., by pressure, stroking). Also called tactile sense. See haptic perception; tactile perception.
What is the biological term for touch? ›
The scientific term for the "touching sensation" is called "tactile sensation" or "tactile perception." This refers to the sense of touch, which is the ability to perceive pressure, texture, and temperature through skin receptors.
What is touch in body language? ›
"Communication through touch is a form of physical contact that expresses feelings or emotion. Often, touch is used to show that you care or to help someone by directing them. Touch sends different messages depending on the context.
What is therapeutic touch called? ›
Therapeutic touch is a type of energy therapy. Also called healing touch.
What does touch tell us? ›
The sense of touch conveys important social information, helping strengthen bonds between people. If your friend grips your hand so hard it hurts, touch lets you know something is wrong or dangerous through the feeling of pain.
What does touch mean in a relationship? ›
Touch is the primary way people communicate intimacy in romantic relationships, and affectionate touch behaviors such as stroking, hugging and kissing are universally observed in partnerships all over the world.
What does touch mean in body language? ›
Often, touch is used to show that you care or to help someone by directing them.
