Central Touch Disorders

Central touch disorders comprise a wide range of deficits in somatosensory perception than can occur after damage to the central nervous system. They vary from deficits in the detection of a touch to complex cognitive deficits such as the inability to recognize objects through touch or the experience of having an additional body part such as a third arm. To understand these disorders, first the neural pathways involved in tactile information processing in the central nervous system will be summarized. This is followed by an overview of the touch disorders ranging from primary-, to higher order deficits.