Tactile perception: characteristics, development, possible violations and their correction

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Every person is unique. Everyone has a different character, temperament and even type of perception. One may be kinesthetic, another may be auditory, and the third may be visual. Nevertheless, without adequate orientation in the surrounding reality, it is difficult to imagine the life of any person. The possibility of such orientation provides tactile perception, which will be discussed in today's article.

Methods of perceiving information

Perception is a mental process that reflects what is happening in reality. This process helps a person navigate in space, make decisions about their next actions and not repeat mistakes.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the types and basic properties of perception:

• Auditory. This type implies the ability to determine various phenomena of the surrounding world using sounds.
• Tactile perceptionincludes tactile, skin contact and touch system. In this case, the main body is the hands of a person - it is thanks to them that he receives the necessary information. With the help of tactile perception, a person communicates with people and with the outside world through touch.
• Visual. It consists in combining the processes of creating and constructing visual images of the surrounding world of people.
• Flavoring. When we eat food, our brain receives a signal from the receptors, with the help of which we can distinguish a sour product from a sweet one, a bitter one from a s alty one.
• Olfactory. It consists in knowing the world with the help of various smells.

What is tactile perception?

Touch is one of the types of perception of objects and phenomena, which is based on multimodal and tactile information.

Thus, tactile perception is sensations through touch, pressure, temperature or pain, due to which a person perceives the surrounding reality. With the help of this perception, a person develops the first impressions of an object or phenomenon. When the outer integuments of the body come into contact with something, we have the opportunity to know the shape, elasticity, size, roughness or density, cold or heat that are characteristic of the object.

Thus, tactile perception is information received through skin receptors. We feel when we touch an animate or inanimate object, and we also notice when we are touched. Howeversensitivity is not limited to these sensations. When touching an object, it is common for a person to feel not only the main signs, but also its properties, such as smoothness, hardness, moisture, malleability, as well as feel itching, tickling and vibration.

Due to the tactile way of perceiving information, our skin is able to respond to the physical properties of the objects around us, and therefore it is through it that we receive certain information.

Major perceptual impairment

To identify perceptual disorders, it is necessary to clearly know the manifestations of diseases. A separate branch of clinical medicine - psychiatry - can help with this. With the help of clinical tests, history taking, laboratory tests, a specialist in this field will be able to make an adequate diagnosis.

In psychiatry, there are several main categories of impaired tactile perception:

• illusions;
• autotognosia;
• tactile agnosia;
• hallucinations.

The above diseases can cause a violation of various senses. Within the framework of this article, we will consider such disorders that are directly related to tactile sensations and tactile perception.

World of Illusions

Tactile illusions are associated with tactile sensations. Perception is imperfect, and sometimes a person can hear a sound, see an image, or feel an inexplicable touch on himself. In psychology, it is considered quite normal,when, against the background of distorted perception, the human brain builds images that do not correspond to reality. Sometimes people tend not to notice obvious things or, on the contrary, create the appearance of something that is not really there. Therefore, sometimes you can see the distortion of an object in the air, a mirage and much more.

With this disorder, it seems to the patient that he has tactile contact with unreal objects and fictitious objects. In addition, a person may have a feeling of a foreign object inside himself.

Breaking off illusions

The first step towards a cure is to identify the underlying disease, as illusions can be a side effect of a more severe disease. To do this, first of all, you need to contact a therapist. With the help of medical tests and examination, the doctor will be able to make a diagnosis and, if necessary, redirect to a specialized specialist. For example, if the symptoms of syphilis became the cause of illusions, then the patient will be referred to a venereologist. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the underlying disease and starting treatment from it. After she retreats, the tactile illusions will also pass.

But it happens that this disorder also has a mental character. In this case, you should contact a psychotherapist or psychiatrist. They will help to make or refute the diagnosis of "schizophrenia", "bipolar disorder". If a specialist identifies a specific diagnosis, with the help of medication and certain therapy, he will be able to help. In this area, the approach to each patient is purely individual, so self-medicationAbsolutely forbidden. Medicines and prescriptions read on various forums on the Internet or suggested by acquaintances can only aggravate the situation.

In case of illusions in children, before going to bed or after it, it is worth seeing a specialist and, if necessary, undergoing treatment. A psychiatrist or psychotherapist, having worked with the child and his parents, will be able to identify the root cause of this disorder, after which several sessions of psychotherapy will follow, which should subsequently help the baby cope with a false perception of the real world.

Hallucination

This disorder can cause visual, auditory, and tactile impairment. With regard to tactile hallucinations (they are also called tactile), they can manifest themselves in the form of squeezing, sensations of touch and pricks. Sometimes this can be expressed in discomfort under the skin, as if insects or other tiny creatures are burrowing in the muscle tissue.

Hallucinations can affect both the human body and the outside world that surrounds it. If visions occur quite often and are accompanied by delirium, then in this case we are talking about hallucinosis. This disorder tends to move into a chronic state in which the patient can maintain efficiency, a critical attitude to their feelings and orderliness of behavior.

Hallucinations that accompany drug and alcohol intoxication are treated by specialists in psychiatric clinics or drug dispensaries. But this treatment isonly in the absence of dependence on alcohol and drugs. It is in this case that specialists will be able to help get rid of terrible sensations and visions.

Causes of hallucinations

Scientists have not yet identified specific factors that may affect the occurrence of hallucinations. The reasons are still completely unexplored, but there are still assumptions:

• alcohol and drug intoxication can cause significant damage not only to physical but also mental he alth;
• brain dysfunction;
• tactile hallucinations can be caused by schizophrenia or encephalitis;
• side effect of drug treatment;
• disruption of the senses;
• specialists have identified another factor called "mass psychosis" - this happens when an absolutely he althy person lends itself to mass suggestion.

Tactile agnosia

This violation is associated with damage to the parietal parts of the hemisphere of the human brain, which inhibits the tactile perception of information. Tactile agnosia includes the inability to identify various objects as a whole, while maintaining the perception of its individual features. For example, when feeling any object inserted into the left or right hand of the patient, you can notice obvious difficulties.

With tactile agnosia, it can be difficult to determine its weight, size, shape and material from which it is made when feeling an object. To date, a common variant of tactile agnosiais dermoalexia. It is associated with damage to the left parietal region, which is characterized by the impossibility of perceiving various symbols (these can be letters, numbers or signs) that are “drawn” by a specialist on the patient’s hand.

The essence of tactile agnosia is a violation of the recognition of various objects and touching them. There are several varieties of this disorder:

• finger - with this disorder, the patient does not feel his fingers;
• somatognosia - impaired recognition of body parts and their location;
• objective - with this type of tactile agnosia, a person fails to determine the properties of an object by touch, such as its shape, size, material, despite the fact that the visually ill person can describe this object.

Autotopagnosia

The next violation is associated with the inability to perceive the location of various parts of the body, their location and relationship. Simply put, it is difficult for a person with this disorder to understand where their ears or eyes and other parts of the body are.

As a rule, this disorder extends to the trunk, face and upper limbs. There are two types of autopagnosia:

• The patient tends to ignore one half of the body - while moving, a person simply does not notice and does not use that half of the body. There are also cases when a person has a feeling that she is simply missing part of the torso.
• The second kind is to misjudgment the location of various parts of the body. For example, when a patient is askedshow where his nose is, he can point to a completely different part of the body or mention its absence. People with this disorder cannot find their body parts or believe they are missing.

Diagnosis

With the development of the above abnormalities, it is necessary to consult a doctor, who, in turn, will try to identify the full picture of the disease and study the anamnesis. For example, if a patient has recently suffered a brain tumor, a stroke, or various other injuries, this can become an essential basis for the formation of these disorders. Therefore, the attending physician must take into account all the nuances in the process of diagnosing disorders, and then refer them to narrow specialists to check the condition of vision and hearing. Also, in the process of checking for violations of tactile-motor perception, various laboratory tests are performed.

Prevention

The above tactile perception disorders do not have certain methods of prevention, but you can protect yourself from this with the help of a proper lifestyle.

In order to avoid such violations that negatively affect tactile-motor perception, experts advise the following:

• first of all give up bad and harmful habits;
• keep the routine of the day;
• find a hobby and do what you love as often as possible;
• get enough sleep;
• talk more with family and friends;
• dream and plan.

Such simple, at first glance, advice will help to livea full life, where there will be no room for a world of illusions.

Treatment

After the cause of the violation of tactile perception is determined and all efforts are directed to the treatment and elimination of the underlying pathology, psychotherapeutic therapies, consultations with a speech therapist and a neuropsychologist should be carried out in parallel. Treatment can last for many years or give a good result in the first two weeks, this is a purely individual aspect. As a rule, the treatment of these disorders begins after adequate measures have been taken to eliminate the underlying disease of the patient. There are cases when, after a complete cure for the underlying disease, impaired functions were restored without the use of additional correction measures.

Forecast

If the above violations are detected, correction of tactile perception is necessary. It is not advisable to neglect treatment in this case. Various kinds of hallucinations, agnosia, autopagnosia are progressive diseases that will only worsen a person's condition. In this case, the prognosis will be disappointing, since the patient is unable to distinguish between the real and the imaginary.

In the absence of appropriate treatment, these disorders will only progress, and the person himself will become even more distant from reality, plunging into his own world. In such situations, you should not self-medicate and look for answers to your questions on your own.

How to develop tactile perception in children

The world around you and yourselfwe learn through different types of perception, such as smell, touch, taste, hearing and sight. One does not need to be a psychologist or physiologist to fail to notice what a huge influence the tactile perception of objects has on the child. Touching the mother, exploring toys and any other details with the help of pens, lips and even legs. It is with the help of fingers and palms that a small child learns the big world, which has a positive effect on mental activity. And to help the baby in the study of the environment, it is worth contributing to the development of tactile perception.

The ability to recognize objects is important not only for children, but also for adults. This is especially important when there is a visual impairment and a person has no options how to learn to explore the world with the help of the organs of touch.

We propose to consider exercises that contribute to the development of tactile perception:

1. Collect as many different items as you can that are different to the touch: sandpaper, velvet, fur, ribbons, erasers, paper, rock fragments, shells, pieces of metal, etc. Discuss these items with your child, what each of them feels like and what it reminds us of our lives.
2. Place different things in a bag or pouch and ask your child to pull something fluffy, smooth or rough out of it. Or, instead of the qualities of this little thing, you can guess the name of the object itself. For example, put your keys, a toy car, a notebook, a walnut, or a pencil in the bag. Then invite the baby to get a certain item.
3. Spread intovarious objects on the floor and try to touch them with bare feet with your child. It can be anything: fur, newspaper, rug, cardboard, velvet, sandpaper, beans, rice, buckwheat, cotton fabric and much more. If possible, go outside and walk around barefoot. Feel the contact of the feet with sand, leaves, grass, wood, bricks, asph alt, gravel and earth. Compare and discuss your experiences.
4. The following exercise is done in the presence of two children. The bottom line is this: invite the children to talk to each other without words, using only touch and gestures.

Bags of grain

This exercise is suitable for children over 6 months old. Pre-sew small linen bags, fill them halfway with various grains and sew them all over. Usually four pairs of identical bags are made: two each with buckwheat, rice, wheat or beans, etc. You can sew bags of different colors. The task of the child is to be able to pick up bags of the same grain by touch.

Tactile track

This activity is for children over one year old. The meaning of the exercise is as follows:

1. It is necessary to place any object on the floor. It can be pebbles or pebbles, straw, lumps of paper, clean sand, pieces of cloth, wooden planks.
2. After the children have washed and dried their feet, they are offered to walk along a rough path. The main thing is that it must be donein a hurry and try not to get off to the side.

This exercise will not only be a pleasant entertainment for kids, but also a training in coordination of movement, concentration. Of course, this path can be built in the yard and on the street. In fact, you don't even have to do it on purpose. Instead, just let your child run barefoot on sand, grass, pebbles, wet clay as often as possible. According to research, the centers of tactile perception in the brain are not far from the centers of speech development. In this regard, training the feet contributes to the speedy development of speech no worse than training the fingers. That is, tactile perception contributes to the development of speech.

It is worth noting that touch is the first sense that begins to develop in the embryo. The development of human sense perception and its relation to the development of other senses, such as hearing or sight, has been the subject of much research. According to scientists, newborns had great problems with survival if they did not develop a sense of touch, even if they were able to see and hear.

Do not underestimate tactile perception, because touch plays a huge role in the lives of not only children, but also adults. They can trigger the release of happiness hormones in the body and contribute to well-being. Tactile perception affects the mind and the physical component at the same time.