Somatic Senses are the nervous mechanisms that collect sensory information from all over the body.

Classification: Mechanoreceptive somatic senses tactile and position sensations Thermoreceptive senses detect heat and cold Pain Sense damages of tissue

Tactile senses include touch, pressure, vibration and tickle senses Position senses include static position and rate of movement senses Other Classification: Exteroreceptive Sensations those from the the surface of the body Proprioceptive sensations are those having to do with the physical state of the body Visceral sensation are those from the viscera of the body Deep sensations are those that come from deep tissues, fasciar, muscles, and bone. These include mainly deep pressure, pain and vibration

Detection and Transmission of Tactile Sensations Sensory Pathways for Transmitting Somatic Signals into the Central Nervous System Sensory information from somatic segments of the body enters the spinal cord through the spinal dorsal roots. However, from entry point then to the brain, the sensory signals are carried though one of two alternatative sensory pathways: (come back together at the thalamus) 1. The dorsal column-medial lemniscal system -carries signal upward the medulla of the brain mainly in the dorsal columns of the cord. -signals then synapse and cross to the opposite side in the medulla -continue upward through the brain stem then by way of medial lemniscus arrive at the thalamus Composed of large myelinated fibers than transmit signals 30-110m/sec. High degree of spatial orientation of the nerve fibers Limited to mechanoreceptive sensations 2. Anterolateral system -immediately enter the spinal cord from the dorsal spinal nerve roots -synapse in the dorsal horns of the spinal gray matter -then cross to the opposite side of the cord and ascend though the anterior and lateral white columns of the cord -they terminate at all levels of the lower brain stem and in the thalamus Smaller myelinated fibers that transmit signals at velocities from a few meters per second up to 40 m/sec. Less degree of spatial orientation

Ability to transmit a broad spectrum of sensory modalities: pain warmth, cold and crude tactile sensations

Dorsal Column-Medial Lemniscal System Anterolateral System Touch sensations requiring a high degree Pain of localization of stimulus Thermal sensations, including both Touch sensations requiring transmission of warmth and cold sensations fine gradations of intensity Crude touch and pressure sensations Phasic sensations, such as vibratory capable only of crude localizing ability on sensations the surface of the body Sensations that signal movement against Tickle and itch sensations the skin Sexual sensations Position sensations from joints Pressure sensations having to do with fine degrees of judgement of pressure intensity

Dorsal Column-Medial Lemniscal System When mechanoreceptors enter the spinal cord through the spinal nerve dorsal roots, they divide to a form of medial branch and lateral branch. The medial branch turns medially to decussate to the opposite side of the brain stem immediately and goes on to the medial lemnisci to get to the thalamus. While going through the brain stem, each of the medial lemniscus is added another set of fibers that came from the sensory nuclei of the trigeminal nerve. The medial lemniscal fibers, one they reach the thalamus, terminate in the ventrobasal complex which is the thalamic sensory relay area and where third order neurons project to the somatic sensory area I and also to the somatic sensory area II. Position senses are divided into two subtypes: Static position sense which means conscious perception of the orientation of the different parts of the body with respect to one another and Rate of movement sense, also called kinesthesia or dynamic proprioception One of the receptors for these is the muscles spindles, which help control muscle movment. When the body moves, the muscles are stretched while others arent. The net stretch information from all these movements are transmitted to the computational system of the spinal cord and and higher parts of the dorsal column system for deciphering joint angulations. From the dorsal horn Laminae I, IV, V and VI, the spinal cord anterolateral fibers pass immediately in the anterior commissure of the cord to the opposite anterior and lateral white columns. And it is here that they ascend through the anterior spinothalamic and lateral spinathalamic tracts. Most of the tactile signals like Temperature are transmitted to the ventrobasal complex, and it is from here that signals are transferred to the somatosensory cortex plus those from the dorsal column. Those of pain signals, however, mostly terminate to the reticular nuclei of the brain stem which one of the upper terminus of the two spinothalamic tracts then are sent to the intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus where they are processed.