somatic sensory system
- noun
- /səˈmætɪk ˈsɛnsoʊri ˈsɪstəm/
- Specialized
- The somatic sensory system allows us to perceive touch, temperature, and pain throughout the body.
Examples
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Damage to the somatic sensory system can result in loss of sensation or abnormal bodily perceptions.
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Research on the somatic sensory system helps scientists understand how the brain processes physical stimuli.
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The somatic sensory system plays a crucial role in how we perceive touch.
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How does the somatic sensory system communicate with the brain?
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The somatic sensory system allows us to perceive touch, temperature, and pain throughout the body.
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Damage to the somatic sensory system can result in loss of sensation or abnormal bodily perceptions.
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Research on the somatic sensory system helps scientists understand how the brain processes physical stimuli.
Synonyms
Part of the body that sends signals to the brain about touch, temperature, pain, and body position
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'somatic' (body-related) + 'sensory' (pertaining to sensation) + 'system' (a coordinated set), so the meaning 'the bodily-sensation part of the nervous system' is directly inferable. This follows common scientific compounding patterns (and similar constructions exist cross-linguistically), so a learner who knows the constituents would understand the MWE.
Etymology
Somatic sensory system is a name you can picture: somatic means 'body', sensory means 'senses', and system means 'parts working together'. So the phrase points to the group of nerves and brain areas that let the body feel touch, temperature, pain and the position of your arms and legs, which is why it means 'the part of the nervous system that gives bodily sensations'.