Why do we feel that itch in a very unrelated place while scratching one part of the body?

The complexity of our nervous system This situation is actually related to our processing of sensory information.

If there is a short answer to be given, this is the situation It’s about our brains. Let’s explore the long answer together.

Our skin has dense nerve endings.

These nerve endings sends signals to the brain from different parts of the body and carries sensory information such as touch, temperature and pressure. The distribution of these nerve endings in the body is quite compact. However, nerve density is obviously higher in some areas.

every nerveresponsible for transmitting sensory information from a specific region to the central nervous system. These nerves reach the spinal cord via peripheral nerves and signals are carried from the spinal cord to the brain.

There are areas in our body called dermatomes.

Dermatomes, for sure What parts of the body do the spinal nerves come from? They are known as nerve areas that show they collect sensory information. Each spinal nerve is responsible for a specific part of the body and carries sensory signals from that area to the brain.

Triggering a nerve, to another dermatome area It creates the illusion that a nerve has been triggered. If an area you scratch is transmitted to nearby areas in the spinal cord, you will likely feel a sensory response in another part of your body.

All sensory signals coming from the body surface go to the area of ​​the brain called the somatosensory cortex.

somatosensory cortex, sensory information from different parts of the body It has a map where it is processed. In this cortex, the location of the nerves corresponding to each part of the body in the brain is represented by an arrangement called a homunculus.

But in the somatosensory cortex Some parts of the body may be very close. This causes nerve signals to become confused. In other words, when the brain actually processes the scratch signal coming from one area, it can interpret it as if a signal is coming from another nearby area.

‘Crosstalk’ in our nervous system is an example of this illusion.

This situation briefly adjacent nerves interacting with each other or it means confusion of nerve pathways. If one nerve becomes too active, adjacent nerves may also be affected.

Finally brain body maphas a structure in which some parts of the body are shown very close together. For example, because the face and hand are located next to each other on the cortex, an itching or touch sensation that you feel in your hand can sometimes also be felt on your face.

Here are all these reasons When you scratch your arm, you feel the itch on your back or some other itch. It makes it feel in very different places.

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