Question

Why do we call skin senses as general senses? Thanks

Answer 1

Skin senses are referred to as general senses because they detect touch/pressure, temperature (cold and heat), and pain.

Explanation:

Sensory receptors in the skin provide various types of information about objects/ forces that the skin comes in contact with.

Touch:

• The largest touch sensor known as the Pacinian corpuscle is located in one of the skin layers and responds to vibration.

• We are able to tell the weight of an object based on firing rate of individual neurons in the skin layers and amount of neurons stimulated. The higher the firing rate and amount of neurons stimulated - the heavier the object.

• Sensory receptors in the skin tell us that we have our clothes on.

Temperature:

• Certain receptors in the skin that are more specialized are responsible for detecting cold and warm temperatures.

• The ''heat receptors'' increase their firing rate when a higher temperature is present and so do the ''cold receptors'' when cold temperature is present.

Pain:

• Loose nerve endings in the skin serve as receptors through which pain information is carried to the brain about a potential injury to the body.

• Pain from the body is transmitted through A-delta fibers( sharp pain) and C-delta fibers ( dull aches, burning sensation).