The Sensory Hand: Neural Mechanisms of Somatic Sensation

The hand is an organ of considerable capability. With it we feel, point, and reach, we determine the texture and shape of objects we palpate, we emit and receive signs of approval, compassion, condolence, and encouragement, and, on a different register, rejection, threat, dislike, antagonism, and attack.

Vernon Mountcastle has devoted his career to studying the neurophysiology of sensation—the extended sensory surface, consisting of skin and subcutaneous tissue—in the hand. In The Sensory Ha...