Johns Hopkins Researchers Discover How Sense of Touch Affects Brain

Neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have uncovered how the sense of touch is wired in the skin and nervous system, opening new doors to understanding how the brain collects and processes information from hairy skin. The findings appear in the Dec. 22 issue of the Cell journal.

“You can deflect a single hair on your arm and feel it, but how can you tell the difference between a raindrop, a light breeze or a poke of a stick?” says David Ginty, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins. “Touch is not yes or no; it’s very rich, and now we’re starting to understand how all those inputs are processed.” For more information, click here to read the full release.