somatosensorisch

Somatosensorisch refers to the sensory processes that detect and interpret information from the body and its interactions with the external environment. The somatosensory system encompasses tactile sensations such as touch, pressure and vibration, proprioception (sense of body position and movement), temperature, and nociception (pain). Receptors are located throughout the skin, muscles, tendons and joints, and they transduce mechanical, thermal and chemical stimuli into neural signals.

Signals from peripheral receptors travel via peripheral nerves to the spinal cord, where they segregate into separate ascending pathways. Fine touch, vibration and proprioception largely ascend through the dorsal columns and then to the brainstem, while pain and temperature primarily use the spinothalamic tract. These signals reach the thalamus, which relays them to the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) in the postcentral gyrus. S1 contains somatotopic maps (the sensory homunculus) that correspond to body regions. Additional processing occurs in secondary somatosensory areas and association cortices in the parietal lobe, supporting integration, perception, and action planning.

Key receptor types include mechanoreceptors (Merkel discs, Meissner corpuscles, Pacinian corpuscles, Ruffini endings), thermoreceptors and nociceptors, as well as proprioceptors in muscles and joints. Somatosensation underpins everyday tasks and motor control, and its disruption can accompany spinal cord injury, stroke or peripheral neuropathy. In research and clinical practice, somatosensory function is assessed with tests of touch, proprioception and pain, and studied with methods such as somatosensory evoked potentials and functional neuroimaging.