1. Touch 3.11 How does the skin provide pleasant and unpleasant
sensations?

2. Touch Essential to development Growth is stunted without it
Lovers yearn to touch
Some spots are very sensitive
3.11 How does the skin provide
pleasant and unpleasant
sensations?

3. Touch Essential to development
Growth is stunted without it
Lovers yearn to touch
Tactile (touch) information is conveyed to the brain when an object touches and depresses the skin.
One or more of several types of receptors are stimulated.
Touch messages are sent through nerve connections to the spinal cord.
3.11 How does the skin provide
pleasant and unpleasant
sensations?

4. Touch
Types of touch
Pressure
Warmth
Cold
Pain
Sensation of hot

5. Pain Pain can be a valuable warning and a protective mechanism.
Pain motivates people to tend to an injury, to restrict activity, and to seek medical help.
3.11 How does the skin provide pleasant and
unpleasant sensations?

6. Pain Chronic pain is like an alarm that won’t shut off.
Pinched or injured nerves
Arthritis
Cancer-related pain
Fibromyalgia
Multiple Sclerosis
3.11 How does the skin provide pleasant and
unpleasant sensations?

7. Understanding Pain
While individual pain sensitivity varies, women are more pain sensitive than men.
There are biological, psychological and socio-cultural influences to pain.
3.11 How does the skin provide pleasant and
unpleasant sensations?

8. Biological Pain
Nociceptors are sensory receptors that detect hurtful pressure, temperatures, or chemicals.
3.11 How does the skin provide pleasant and
unpleasant sensations?

9. Biological Influences
Gate Control Theory
An area in the spinal cord acts as a gate and blocks or transmits pain messages to the brain.
Pain messages are carried by small, slow-conducting nerve fibers.
Large, fast-conducting nerve fibers carry other sensory messages.
3.11 How does the skin provide pleasant and
unpleasant sensations?

10. Psychological Influences
Distraction can be effective with short-term pain, but not long-term pain.
Endorphins are natural painkillers produced by the body.
block pain and produce a feeling of well-being
Some individuals release endorphins when they think they are receiving pain medication.
3.11 How does the skin provide pleasant and
unpleasant sensations?

11. Socio-Cultural Influences
Perception of pain varies with social situations.
Presence of others
Empathy for others
Cultural expectations
3.11 How does the skin provide pleasant and
unpleasant sensations?

12. Controlling Pain
Since pain is both biological and psychological, it can be treated on both levels.
Drugs
Surgery
Acupuncture
Electrical stimulation
Placebo
Massage
Exercise
Hypnosis
Relaxation training
Thought distraction
3.11 How does the skin provide pleasant and
unpleasant sensations?

13. Taste Gustation - the sensation of a taste.
LO How do the senses of taste and smell work, and how are they alike?
Gustation - the sensation of a taste.
Papillae – small bumps on the tongue that have taste buds in them.
Taste buds - taste receptor cells in mouth; responsible for sense of taste.

14. Taste Five primary taste sensations have been identified.
­­ – Sweet – Sour ­­ – Salty
­­ – Bitter ­­– Umami
3.10 How do we detect the
primary taste sensations?

15. Taste
Individuals vary in their capacity for experiencing taste sensations.
Nontasters (fewer tastebuds)
unable to taste certain sweet and bitter compounds
Supertasters (more tastebuds)
taste sweet and bitter compounds with far stronger intensity than other people
Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) paper
3.10 How do we detect the
primary taste sensations?

16. Smell Olfaction Olfactory bulbs At least 1,000 olfactory receptors.
Sense of smell.
Olfactory bulbs
Areas of the brain specifically dedicated to receive information from the olfactory receptor cells.
At least 1,000 olfactory receptors.
Each have about a half dozen to a dozen little “hairs” (ciliar) that project into the cavity and send signals to the brain.

17. How do we smell?

18. Kinesthesia sense Vestibular sense Sense of change in body position
– Movement of fluids in the inner ear caused by head or body movement
– Gives sense of equilibrium and balance
3.11 How does the skin provide pleasant and
unpleasant sensations?

19. Sensory Interaction
LO How do the senses of taste and smell work, and how are they alike?
What happens when your sense of taste when you hold your nose?
Sensory Interaction: the principle that one sense may influence another
Close Captioning to assist hearing impairment
What happens when you see one thing but hear another?
McGurk Effect Lip Reading