Ascending pathways

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Types of sensations

Kinesthesia and proprioception are senses involved in the awareness of movement or limb position. With my eyes closed I could tell you if you had moved my big toe up or down or not at all. There are two kinds of touch, and they are called discriminative touch and light touch. Discriminative touch is localized well - "you touched me on the tip of my nose". Light touch is not localized well - "I felt you touch me somewhere". The wisp of cotton is used to test for light touch. It is difficult to imagine the sense of light touch because normal people have both light touch and discriminative touch, and if you touch them they will localize it accurately. If, however, you interrupted a particular ascending pathway they would feel they were touched but could not tell you where with much accuracy.