Somatosensory system

The somatosensory system, also known as somatic senses, touch or tactile perception, is a complex sensory system. It is considered one of the five traditional senses. It is made up of a number of different receptors, including thermoreceptors, photoreceptors, mechanoreceptors and chemoreceptors. It also comprises essential processing centres, or sensory modalities, such as proprioception, mechanoreception (touch), thermoception (temperature), and nociception (pain). The sensory receptors cover the skin and epithelial tissues, skeletal muscles, bones and joints, internal organs, and the cardiovascular system.

Somatic senses are sometimes referred to as somesthetic senses, with the understanding that somesthesis includes touch, proprioception and (depending on usage) also haptic perception.

Processing primarily occurs in the primary somatosensory area in the parietal lobe of the cerebral cortex: information is sent from the receptors via sensory nerves, through tracts in the spinal cord and finally into the brain.