1. Methika Gandhi
Human Anatomy period 1
October 1, 2011
Touch Discrimination
Introduction
Skin is the largest body organ of the integumentary system. There are many functions to the skin
but in the dermis layer, composed of elastic fibers and collagen fibers, is where receptors are
located. There are multiple receptors in the body for example, the ruffini receptor for skin
strechness and the meissner’s corpuscle for touch. Touch enables humans to locate where exactly on
the skin has been touched. However, certain parts of the body have a higher concentration of touch
receptors than others. This is highly dependent on the density and the distribution of receptors
throughout the body which enables humans to pinpoint an accurate place where it has been touch.
The purpose of this lab is to determine where on the human body have the highest receptors by
conducting an experiment with a group of students.
Procedure
Between two students, each lab partner shall touch the palm with a pen of the other partner leaving
a mark on the hand. He or she, with their eyes closed, will aim to place another mark where they
have perivously been touched. The greater apart the two spots are indicates that there are is not
many receptors in that region of the body. Repeat the process 4 more times. Average the results and
repeat the experiment on other surfaces including fingertips, volar surface, arm and neck.
Data and Observation
Average Difference between each Body Part of a Group of Students
Area Fingertip Volar Palmer Arm Neck
Fingertip + - +++ +++
Volar + - ++ +++
Palmer - - +++ +++
Arm +++ ++ +++ -
Neck +++ +++ +++ -
Table 1: The amount of difference between two body parts compared to the others. The minus
indicates little statically significants while the triple plus indicates extremely statistically significant.

2. Average Mean of Touch Accuracy of a Group of Students
18.0
The Level Accuracy (mm) 13.5 14.6
11.7
9.0
7.8
7.2
4.5
4.7
0
Fingertips Volar Palmer Arm Neck
Average Mean according to each Body Part
Figure 1: The accuracy level compared to each surface of the body. The high the value the less
receptors are located in that particular body area. Judging by the figure the neck has the least
sensitive while fingertips have the greatest amount of distributive receptors.
Conclusion
The amount of receptors are not evenly distributed throughout the human body. Places with higher
sensitivity have a higher concentration of touch receptors. In figure 1 it indicates that the average
mean for the neck was 14.6 mm which is the least sensitive. While the fingertips has an average
mean of 4.7 which is the most sensitive body surface in this experiment. The average difference
between the fingertips and the neck are extremely statistically significant as shown in table 1. It can
be concluded that the area of the body with thicker skin, for instance fingertips and palm, have
greater receptors compared to other areas with a less dense skin, such as the back of the hand and
arm. The hand is one of the most used part of the body therefore it is vital to be sensitive to
anything.
There are other factors that are needed to be taken into consideration. Each person’s body is
different meaning that some people have better concentration than others to locate the exact point.
Also a reason for the neck to have the least accuracy is because it is simply more difficult to
pinpoint the exact location on ones own body.