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Perception 4/e Cover Image
Perception, 4/e
Robert Sekuler, Brandeis University
Randolph Blake, Vanderbilt University

Touch


Braille  System of writing in which letters or characters are represented by patterns of tangible dots.
diffuse fibers  In touch system, first-order afferent neurons having large receptive fields with poorly defined borders.
diplesthesia  In touch, the illusory experience of two objects when only one is actually present.
free nerve endings  Nerve cells in the olfactory epithelium that mediate the common chemical sense.
haptics  Sensory information that depends upon both touch and kinesthesis.
kinesthesis  Information about the movement and position of a limb that derives from receptors that are in the muscles, tendons, and joints of that limb.
localization ability  An observer's capacity to identify the position of some stimulus.
mechanoreceptors  Receptors that respond to deformation of the skin.
Meissner corpuscles  An encapsulated touch receptor located in the skin's upper layer.
Merkel disk  An unencapsulated touch receptor located at an intermediate depth within the skin.
Pacinian corpuscle  An encapsulated touch receptor located in the skin's lower layer.
phantom limb  The illusory experience, often painful, that an amputated limb is still attached to the body.
proprioception  The sense that enables one to feel where one's limbs are.
punctate fibers  In touch system, first-order afferent neurons have small receptive fields with sharply defined borders.
rapidly adapting (RA) fibers  First-order afferent neurons that respond in a relatively transient manner to sustained deformation of the skin.
Ruffini endings  An unencapsulated touch receptor located at an intermediate depth within the skin.
slowly adapting (SA) fibers  First-order afferent neurons that respond in a relatively sustained manner to sustained deformation of the skin.
touch acuity  Ability to distinguish a small separation between two closely adjacent stimuli applied to the skin.
unilateral neglect  Neurological disorder in which a patient ignores events on one side of the body.