The skin receives information from the outside world and transmits it to the central nervous system where the information is processed.
The receptors in the skin are the ones that constantly receive different information. They are responsible for the development of the baby’s first movements while still in the mother’s womb, initiating the appearance, development and maturation of reflexes.
The image you are looking at is a projection of our body’s sensations. The emphasized parts of the body have many more receptors (mouth and hands) than the other parts of the body (trunk, legs).
![](https://www.therasuitsrbija.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Taktilna_Inteligencija-1-uai-258x142.jpg)
This is one of the explanations why speech therapy treatment can be improved and accelerated by hand stimulation, tactile integration and integration of primitive hand reflexes.
The projection of the mouth and hands in the sensory center in the cerebrum is very closely related.
The very fact that the skin and the central nervous system arose from the same layer (the so-called ectodermal layer) during the development of the embryo, shows exactly how important the stimulation of the skin is if we want to influence the nervous system in various pathological conditions and developmental disorders:
- Dyslexia
- Learning difficulties
- Hyperactivity
- Autism and Asperger’s syndrome
- Cerebral paralysis
- Down syndrome and others
In children with these difficulties, touch is often impaired. Children with a heightened sense of touch (hypersensitivity) avoid being touched, perceiving it as painful and unpleasant. They do not tolerate clothes of different textures and avoid fine motor skills.
Children who are born with an improper sense of touch do not receive proper information from the external environment through skin receptors. As a result, the appearance of insecurity, fear of unknown situations is highlighted and they are often not willing to take the risk imposed on them by some new, unknown experience.
Other children become distrustful because they experience touch as invasive and painful.
In both cases, the nervous system is oriented exclusively towards survival, rendering it incapable of learning. Remember…whenever you were in a stressful situation, exposed to minor or major danger, to what extent were you able to remember some new or even already known information in those situations?
Children with non-integrated reflexes and skin hypersensitivity find themselves in these situations almost every day!