Sensation Overview - Concepedia

Principles

Definition

Sensation is the initial biological and psychological process by which sensory receptors detect physical stimuli from the environment and convert them into neural signals. As an academic concept, it investigates the foundational mechanisms of sensory input, serving as the basis for subsequent perceptual and cognitive processing.

Ontological type

Transduction Mechanisms

Neural Pathways

Sensory Coding

Key developments

Key Figures

Sensorimotor Integration era

Leo M. Hurvich [1] was a central figure in the Sensorimotor Integration era, associated with Harvard University [3] and University of Pennsylvania [4] during this time. His key contribution in this era is the opponent-process theory of color vision [6], as articulated in the 1957 paper An opponent-process theory of color vision [6], which provided a framework for how opposing color channels shape perception and influenced subsequent models of sensory processing. Dorothea Jameson [2] contributed to the same discourse with affiliations at University of Pennsylvania [4] and New York University [5] in this era. Her key contribution, most prominently the opponent-process theory of color vision [6], helped establish a dynamic, sensorimotor-informed account of color perception that guided later research on sensation and action during this era.

Molecular‑Central Integration era

Gary J. Bennett [1] was active at Harvard University [3] and the University of Pennsylvania [4] during the Molecular-Central Integration era. His work on peripheral neuropathies, notably the 1988 paper 'A peripheral mononeuropathy in rat that produces disorders of pain sensation like those seen in man' [7], helped link peripheral transducers to nociceptive percepts and underscored the peripheral side of sensory encoding in this era. A. Iggo [2] was active at Karolinska Institutet [5] and Heidelberg University [6] during this era. His key contributions are evident in the papers The structure and function of a slowly adapting touch corpuscle in hairy skin [8], A quantitative study of cutaneous receptors and afferent fibres in the cat and rabbit [9], and Cutaneous thermoreceptors in primates and sub‐primates [10], which together mapped receptor classes and established links between peripheral transducers and central somatosensory representations.

Interoceptive Embodiment era

Giuseppe Lauria [1] is affiliated with Harvard University [3] and Washington University in St. Louis [4] in this era. His key contributions include the 2010 Intraepidermal nerve fiber density at the distal leg: a worldwide normative reference study [6], and the 2012 Gain-of-function NaV1.8 mutations in painful neuropathy [7], which established normative baselines for small fiber pathology and linked Nav1.8 variants to painful neuropathy, informing interoceptive and affective theories of sensation. Catharina G. Faber [2] is affiliated with Harvard University [3] and Johns Hopkins University [5] in this era. Her key contributions likewise draw on the 2010 Intraepidermal nerve fiber density at the distal leg: a worldwide normative reference study [6] and the 2012 Gain-of-function NaV1.8 mutations in painful neuropathy [7], providing complementary normative and genetic insights that underpin interpretation of interoceptive sensory signals in embodied perception.