Perception and Somatosensory Receptors

Sensory receptors are all over our body and encompass the hair and skin. The tightness of the sensory receptors in the skin, muscles, tendons, and in the joints show high variability, which is the reason why some areas of our body are more or less receptive to stimulation. Our hands, feet, lips, as well as our eyes are very sensitive to stimulation. The sensitivity of the skin regarding touch stimuli is often measured with the two-point sensitivity test (Kolb and Whishaw, 2006, p.369-371). The somatosensory receptors are classically ordered into three different groups. These are nocioception, hapsis, and proprioception.