Tactile discrimination
Encyclopedia
Tactile discrimination is the ability to differentiate information received through the sense
of touch. This is often tested during neurological examination
and represents a higher level of neurological function involving the cerebral cortex
. Examples include the ability to discriminate between sharp and dull objects touching the skin, stereognosis
, graphesthesia
, and two-point discrimination
.
Sense
Senses are physiological capacities of organisms that provide inputs for perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology , and philosophy of perception...
of touch. This is often tested during neurological examination
Neurological examination
A neurological examination is the assessment of sensory neuron and motor responses, especially reflexes, to determine whether the nervous system is impaired...
and represents a higher level of neurological function involving the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...
. Examples include the ability to discriminate between sharp and dull objects touching the skin, stereognosis
Stereognosis
Stereognosis is the ability to perceive and recognize the form of an object using cues from texture, size, spatial properties, and temperature...
, graphesthesia
Graphesthesia
Graphesthesia is the ability to recognize writing on the skin purely by the sensation of touch. Its name derives from Greek graphē and aisthēsis...
, and two-point discrimination
Two-point discrimination
Two-point discrimination is the ability to discern that two nearby objects touching the skin are truly two distinct points, not one. It is often tested with two sharp points during a neurological examination and reflects how finely innervated an area of skin is....
.