Humans Have Hidden Sensory System - Yahoo! News

Description

The human body may be equipped with a separate sensory system aside from the nerves that gives us the ability to touch and feel, according to a new study.

Most of us have millions of different types of nerve endings just beneath the skin that let us feel our surroundings. However, the once-hidden and recently discovered skin sense, found in two patients, is located throughout the blood vessels and sweat glands, and most of us don't even notice it's there.

"It's almost like hearing the subtle sound of a single instrument in the midst of a symphony," said senior author Frank Rice, a neuroscience professor at Albany Medical College in New York. "It is only when we shift focus away from the nerve endings associated with normal skin sensation that we can appreciate the sensation hidden in the background."

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20091208/sc_livescience/humanshavehiddensensorysystem

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20091208/sc_livescience/humanshavehiddensensorysystem