Discover the main mystery of the sense of touch

Arabiaweather.com - Scientists have discovered how the skin senses a huge number of touches, and it turns out that our ability to sense surface roughness, no matter how slight, is due to the unique properties of Merkel cells located under the skin.

This discovery, made by a scientific team from Columbia University, headed by Professor Helen Lampkin, is the solution to the mystery that has baffled scientists for a century.

The researchers used the new optogenetic method, which uses light in this method as a sensor system to stimulate and calm nerve cells. Thanks to this method, scientists were able to determine who is responsible for the human sense of touch, as it turned out that they are Merkel cells located under the skin, whose function was not known until now. now.

Merkel cells communicate directly with the nerve cells of the skin, which allows us to sense any change in surface roughness, no matter how slight. This discovery has high applied importance, especially in the treatment of touch disorders such as the loss of the skin's sense of touch due to diabetes.

As it is known, the number of Merkel cells begins to decrease, starting from the age of twenty, and this leads to a decrease in the effectiveness of the sense of touch (Russia Today).