Biology / Unit 12 Bio 2879 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Somatosensory Mechanoreceptors
Captions available
The idea
Human skin carries several mechanoreceptor types tuned to different touch qualities: Merkel's disks for light touch, Meissner's corpuscles for touch and low-frequency vibration, Ruffini endings for stretch, Pacinian corpuscles for deep pressure.
In practice
Merkel's disks, dense in fingertips, give the fine edge-sensitivity needed for tasks like typing.
Where people slip
These receptors are unevenly distributed — glabrous skin carries far more than hair-covered skin.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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