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Touch, Part 1 of 2

This entry is part 5 of 9 in the series The Five(ish) Senses

The Five(ish) Senses

The ‘Senses’ series continues with tactile perception, aka touch. In part one we discuss tactile disorders, sensory illusions and haptics. Part 1 of 2.

Music: “Feelin’ No Pain” by Red Nichols

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Series Navigation<< SmellTouch, Part 2 of 2 >>

7 Responses

  2. Great episode guys. I think this 5 senses series might be my favourite so far. 🙂

    I know about the temperature sensation issue after I decided that I’d go for a bike ride the other morning when it was 3C outside without gloves. I thought I’d just tough it out but after about a minute of riding my fingertips felt like someone had put them in a vice. I did last another 25 minutes or so, but did cut my ride short. When I got back I immediately decided to put my hands under warm water, but had to get my daughter to check it wasn’t too hot because I had absolutely no idea how warm it actually was. It was excruciating for a few minutes anyway.

    My tip: if it’s 3C outside, don’t ride more than 100m without gloves. :/

  3. Btw, did you guys come across any other itchy-type disorders? Milder ones, perhaps? I have a little patch under my right little toe that occasionally becomes extremely itchy, and it’s all I can do not to scratch the toe off, but it subsides after a few minutes. I’m just amazed that it’s such a specific little spot, and it’s just itchy – no formicatory sensations of any sort. 🙂

  5. Stephen Fry and Brian Blessed (king of the winged guys in Flash Gordon, who swears like a trooper) demonstrated the idea that swearing helps cope with pain on a series Fry did on the English language a year or two ago. Well worth looking up the series (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fry's_Planet_Word), even only for that scene. Very amusing. And interesting. Much like Caustic Soda.

  6. Regarding “formication”, Here’s the NFB ‘Through a Blue Lens’ documentary on the Downtown Eastside that Kevin might have been speaking of ~ @ 11:00 mark

  7. Optacon follow-up (sorry if this has been mentioned already, I know this ep is a year old): A new device lets blind people “see” through sending electrical impulses to their tongue (which has tons of touch receptors): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKd56D2mvN0

    And sighted people can still noticeably increase their sensitivity to touch by temporarily blocking their sense of sight. This is why blindfolds make sex better 😉