Question

which area(s) were least sensitive? What does this say about the number of receptors in

this/these area(s.

hich area(s) were most sensitive? What does this say about the number of receptors in

this/these area(s.

Why do you think that our bodies have different densities of receptors in different

areas? How does this help humans survive/interact with their

environment

Answer 1

The most sensitive parts of the human body are probably the pads at the tips of the fingers. The tip of the tongue comes in a close second. The lips are also very sensitive.

Finger tips are sensitive enough to detect very small differences in texture on a surface. This allows people to “read” braille quickly and accurately.

The tip of the tongue can also detect very small differences in texture.

The lips can detect small differences in texture and small differences in temperature.

As for why this is so, fingertips, the tip of the tongue and the lips have a higher density of touch receptors per square mm than other parts of the body. In the brain, more processing power is devoted to these areas than to any other parts.

Human skin contains a variety of receptors for sensation, each triggered by a specific stimulus including touch, light pressure, deep pressure, pain, hot and cold (see attached diagram). These receptors are not distributed evenly at different areas of the body.

The parts of your skin that need to be most sensitive, like your fingertips and your lips, have more receptor cells in them than other, less sensitive areas.

we have an innate awareness of our environment and seek out environments with certain qualities.

1. The strategic location of the skin as the barrier between the environment and internal milieu determines its critical function in the preservation of body homeostasis, and ultimately organism survival
2. It also exposes skin to numerous pathological agents, processes, and events. Thus, the capability to locally recognize, discriminate and integrate various signals within a highly heterogeneous environment, and to immediately launch appropriate responses, is a vital property of skin
3. These skin functions are integrated into the skin immune, pigmentary, epidermal and adnexal systems, and are in continuous communication with the systemic immune, neural and endocrine systems
4. The skin being continuously exposed to many external biological or environmental factors (acute transfers of solar, thermal or chemical energy), had to evolve optimal mechanism(s) to protect, restore or maintain local and global homeostasis in relation to hostile environment.