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Anatomy => Sense Organs => Touch
Touch
Touch, one of the five senses in humans and other animals, by which the body perceives contact with substances. In humans, touch is accomplished by nerve endings in the skin that convey sensations to the brain via nerve fibers. Nerves end in or between the cells of the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin, in all parts of the body. In one complex form of nerve ending, the terminals form tiny swellings, or end bulbs; characteristic of this form are the Pacinian corpuscles found in the sensitive pad of each finger. Touch is the least specialized of the senses, but acuteness can be sharpened by use; for example, people who are blind exhibit a remarkable delicacy of the tactile sense in their ability to read the fine, raised letters of the Braille system.
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