Sense of Touch

Most – if not all – of us know that human beings have 5 senses. These 5 senses are out sense of sound, sight, smell, taste, and touch. Each sense has its own purpose to help us be aware of the environment around us. However, which of these senses are more important than others? That is a question to which different people have different opinions on. The main focus of this essay will be on the sense of touch.

Touch is the oldest and most primal sense. Our biggest organ, our skin, is not just for protection, but it is also in charge of exposing us to the sense of touch. Our skin let’s us feel the difference between a soft carpet and a hard floor. This is due to the 50 touch receptors for every square centimeter, together with the 5 million sensory cells on our skin.

According to scientists, we have 3 layers of skin, the outermost layer, the middle layer and the innermost layer. These 3 layers form the epidermis. Each of these layers has a specific function to perform.

The innermost layer is where new cells are produced by cell division. In the middle layer, there are living cells that are pushed towards the outermost layer, where they die and flatten. The outermost layer is made of dead cells. They wear off all the time, as they are replaced by new cells.

It is a known fact that a baby can actually die due to lack of touch. Also, that the amount of time a baby is touched also affects the size of the baby’s brain. A baby who is touched less will probably get a brain about 20% smaller than those who are touched a lot. It is also a scientific fact that babies that are touched more often grow up healthier and better than those touched less often. ‘Better’ in a sense that, babies who are touched frequently develop higher IQs than those that less often touched.