Skin - Sense of Touch

Skin is not only the body's largest organ but also its organ of touch, carrying millions of microscopic sensory receptors spread across its surface. These receptors are associated with the general sensations of contact, pressure, heat, cold and pain — collectively called the somatic (general) senses, as distinct from the special senses (vision, hearing, smell, taste, equilibrium) covered by dedicated sense organs elsewhere in this chapter. Receptor density is not uniform across the body: regions like the fingertips carry a particularly large number of these receptors packed into a small area, which is exactly why the fingertips are so much more sensitive to fine touch than, say, the skin of the back. …