Role of the Brain in Sensory Experiences Essay

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Touch, Itch and Tickle

The human brain plays a crucial role in the sensations of touch, itch and tickle as well as the perception of these sensations. This is primarily because the brain enables us to feel these sensations and the processes that contribute to them. While the brain allows us to feel these sensations, it sometimes plays tricks on us with regards to touch, itch and tickle. Generally, sensations like touch, itch and tickle can be described as conscious or unconscious awareness of internal or external stimuli. The perception of these sensations is in turn described as the conscious understanding and interpretation of these feelings. The role of the brain in sensations and their associated perceptions is attributable to brain components that obtain sensory input, integrate and hoard information, and convey motor reactions.

Sensory Experiences

Touch, itch and tickle are examples of sensory experiences brought by either internal or external stimuli or conditions in the body. The nature of each of these sensory experiences is dependent on the destination of stimuli or impulses in the central nervous system, which also influences the type of reaction generated from the sensation. The occurrence of these sensations is usually characterized by several events including stimulation of the receptor, transformation of the stimulus into a graded probability, production of impulses once the graded probability reaches threshold, and combination or integration of the sensory stimuli by the central nervous system (Kenny, n.d.).

There are different kinds of sensations that are largely influenced by sensory modalities including touch, vision, itch, tickle, vibration, pain, hearing, and temperature. The existence of different types of sensations is attributed to the fact that every kind of sensory neuron can react to one a single type of stimulus. This in turn generates a specific impulse following the conversion of the stimulus into a graded potential. Given the existence of different kinds of sensations, there are two major categories of sensory modalities i.e. general senses (somatic and visceral) and special senses.

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Role of the Brain in Sensory Experiences

As previously mentioned, the human brain plays a crucial role in our ability to experience and feel different sensations such as touch, itch and tickle. In this case, the human brain not only influences ability to feel these sensations but also influence our perceptions of the sensations. According to Goldstein (2010), touch, itch and tickle are among commonplace sensory experiences that are part of a huge constellation of skin senses. While these sensations are sometimes linked perceptually, they are usually distinct since they are provoked by significantly different stimuli. For instance, itch is evoked by chemicals that are particular for the sensation which tickle is evoked by touch stimulation.

Our brains allow us to feel these sensations through the various tactile receptors that are linked to a wide range of nerves. Most of these tactile receptors use A beta fibers to convey their signals from the skin to the brain through an extremely rapid process. The human brain comprises various components which interact to obtain sensory input, combine and store associated information, and convey different motor responses. Moreover, there are different pathways for sensations from the skin or body to the brain as well as pathways for motor responses from the brain to the body. The posterior column pathway carries sensory information up the spine to the brain, which in turn contributes to conscious awareness and understanding of the sensory experiences.

In essence, the human brain is where all sensory information delivered from various body parts is integrated and processed in the primary sensory cortex. Once these signals from the body are received by the brain, they are sorted and classified depending on the nature….....

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