page_title: Tactile discrimination
section_title: Types of receptors
hierarchical_section_title: Tactile discrimination / Pathways / Types of receptors
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: 100x lichtmikroskopische Aufnahme eines Meissner-Körperchens (oder Meissner-Tastkörperchens) an der Spitze eines Papillarkörpers. Als Mechanorezeptor ist es empfindlich für Druckveränderungen schon bei leichten Berührungen. English: 100x light micrograph of Meissner's corpuscle (or tactile corpuscle) at the tip of a dermal papillus. As a type of mechanoreceptor it is responsible for sensitivity to light touch.
context_page_description: Tactile discrimination is the ability to differentiate information through the sense of touch. The somatosensory system is the nervous system pathway that is responsible for this essential survival ability used in adaptation. There are various types of tactile discrimination. One of the most well known and most researched is two-point discrimination, the ability to differentiate between two different tactile stimuli which are relatively close together. Other types of discrimination like graphesthesia and spatial discrimination also exist but are not as extensively researched. Tactile discrimination is something that can be either more or less severe in different people and two major conditions, chronic pain and blindness, can affect it greatly. Blindness increases tactile discrimination abilities which is extremely helpful for tasks like reading braille. In contrast, chronic pain conditions, like arthritis, decrease a person's tactile discrimination. One other major application of tactile discrimination is in new prosthetics and robotics which attempt to mimic the abilities of the human hand.
context_section_description: There are many types of receptors in the somatosensory pathway including:
  Peripheral Mechanoreceptors - Activation of these receptors is the initial step of recognizing a stimulation. An indentation, as stated before, becomes an electrical signal in the peripheral process of a primary afferent neuron. This creates a depolarization across the membrane of the neuron and this leads to an action potential that goes to the cerebellum of the brain to initiate an action.
  Merkel's Disks - Located on the upper part of the dermis. Slow adapting receptors. Found on the fingertips as well as the eyelids.
  Meissner's Corpuscles - Located also on the upper part of the dermis. Found on the hairless skin including the lips as well as the eyelids. These are rapid adapting receptors.
  Thermoreceptors - These are receptors that are able to detect heat. There are actually 2 types of these receptors in mammals. One that can identify heat higher than body temperature and vice versa!
caption: WVSOM Meissner's corpuslce
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