Tag related to questions on the sense of touch and haptics, including, but not limited to peripheral processes dealing with touch, central processing of touch stimuli in the brain; kinesthetic systems (awareness of movement); and proprioceptive system (muscle spindles including the multisensory processes involving the balance organ). Often, but arguably, even heat and pain reception in the skin are grouped under the sense of touch.
What we typically refer to as “the sense of touch” is what we will call “active” or “haptic” touch. This refers to touch that involves some movement. This movement can be voluntary, exploratory movements of the hands and other sensory surfaces involved in touch, or it can also refer to experiences generated by objects moving against a stationary body. In most cases, haptic touch will involve the engagement of kinesthesis (awareness of movement) and proprioception (awareness of bodily position). Some apply the term “haptic” for any touch that involves the activation of (the physiologically and functionally distinct) kinesthetic or proprioceptive systems. Touch mediated entirely through the skin is generally referred to as “cutaneous touch”.
