What are the fundamental sensory systems?
Our central nervous system is bombarded every minute of the day to interpret information received from our body and our environment. According to Dr. Ayres’ research, the fundamental sensory systems are the vestibular, proprioceptive, and tactile. The vestibular system provides information through the inner ear about gravity and space, about balance and movement, and about our head and body position in relation to the surface of the earth. The proprioceptive system involves all the skeletal muscles, joints, and ligaments about where our body parts are and what they are doing as related to movement. It continues to develop into childhood. The tactile system involves the skin and fascia including the oral touch receptors. It provides information about touch, pain, temperature, pressure, and texture. It helps us to distinguish between threatening and non-threatening touch sensations. This system tends to be the easiest to detect of all the sensory dysfunction because it is exposed to the
