Touch

Touch, sensory system concerned with surface sensation, found in all external body surfaces including the skin and some mucous membranes. Functional categories of touch sensation include light touch (including movement of hairs), heat, cold, pressure, and pain sensation. Receptors for all the senses are particularly concentrated and developed over the face and hands. When the skin receptors are stimulated, they activate nerve impulses in cutaneous nerves; these pass via the spinal cord and brain stem to the brain, where coding and perception occur.

See also: Senses.