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The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of body position and balance (proprioception). [2] Mechanosensory information includes that of light touch, vibration, pressure and tension in the skin.
Proprioception refers to the sensory information relayed from muscles, tendons, and skin that allows for the perception of the body in space. This feedback allows for more fine control of movement. In the brain, proprioceptive integration occurs in the somatosensory cortex, and motor commands are generated in the motor cortex.
The amplitude of movements are based upon the antagonistic muscles forces and the amount of leverage the antagonistic muscle provides for movement. For the torsion motion, muscles are arranged in helical layers around a hydrostatic body. The fiber angle (the angle the fiber makes with the long axis of the body) plays a critical role in torsion ...
Cutaneous, superficial, [1] or skin reflexes, are activated by skin receptors and play a valuable role in locomotion, providing quick responses to unexpected environmental challenges. They have been shown to be important in responses to obstacles or stumbling, in preparing for visually challenging terrain, and for assistance in making ...
Primary endings of muscle spindles "respond to the size of a muscle length change and its speed" and "contribute both to the sense of limb position and movement". [72] Secondary endings of muscle spindles detect changes in muscle length, and thus supply information regarding only the sense of position. [ 72 ]
These, in turn, synapse with motor neurons leading back to the antagonistic muscle, a flexor in the back of the thigh. By inhibiting the flexor, these interneurons aid contraction of the extensor. Still other branches of the I-a axons synapse with interneurons leading to brain centers, e.g., the cerebellum, that coordinate body movements. [11]
Aδ fibers are characterized by thin axons and thin myelin sheaths, and are either D-hair receptors or nociceptive neurons. Aδ fibers conduct at a rate of up to 25 m/s. D-hair receptors have large receptive fields and very low mechanical thresholds, and have been shown to be the most sensitive of known cutaneous mechanoreceptors.
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is divided into the somatic nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, and the enteric nervous system.However, it is the somatic nervous system, responsible for body movement and the reception of external stimuli, which allows one to understand how cutaneous innervation is made possible by the action of specific sensory fibers located on the skin, as well ...