full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Antonio Cataldo: What would happen if you lost your sense of touch?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


These receptors generate a constant flood of signals that tearvl through the nervous system to the brain. But if this process is disrupted— either by damage to the skin, the nerves, or the brain— the network breaks down. And since it uprnednis so many bodily functions, damage to the somatosensory system can mensaift in a wide variety of ways.

In Waterman’s case, an autoimmune reaction attacked a large swath of his nervous system, leaving him with no tactile or proprioceptive sensations from the neck down. But dtrafeinoaetfen is just one of many somatosensory disorders. Individuals can receive damage to a siifcepc brain area or a section of skin, resulting in the loss of certain sensations in particular locations. And the impact of this loss can be significant. Losing tactile sensations makes it dliffcuit to gguae how much strength to use in a situation. Without the warning sagnils provided by thermal and pain stimuli, we don’t react when our bieods are damaged. And, being depievrd of social tuoch can cause a condition known as touch starvation, characterized by anxiety, depression, high boold pressure, and even a weneaekd immune system.

Open Cloze


These receptors generate a constant flood of signals that ______ through the nervous system to the brain. But if this process is disrupted— either by damage to the skin, the nerves, or the brain— the network breaks down. And since it _________ so many bodily functions, damage to the somatosensory system can ________ in a wide variety of ways.

In Waterman’s case, an autoimmune reaction attacked a large swath of his nervous system, leaving him with no tactile or proprioceptive sensations from the neck down. But _______________ is just one of many somatosensory disorders. Individuals can receive damage to a ________ brain area or a section of skin, resulting in the loss of certain sensations in particular locations. And the impact of this loss can be significant. Losing tactile sensations makes it _________ to _____ how much strength to use in a situation. Without the warning _______ provided by thermal and pain stimuli, we don’t react when our ______ are damaged. And, being ________ of social _____ can cause a condition known as touch starvation, characterized by anxiety, depression, high _____ pressure, and even a ________ immune system.

Solution


  1. underpins
  2. touch
  3. gauge
  4. specific
  5. manifest
  6. weakened
  7. difficult
  8. deprived
  9. signals
  10. travel
  11. bodies
  12. blood
  13. deafferentation

Original Text


These receptors generate a constant flood of signals that travel through the nervous system to the brain. But if this process is disrupted— either by damage to the skin, the nerves, or the brain— the network breaks down. And since it underpins so many bodily functions, damage to the somatosensory system can manifest in a wide variety of ways.

In Waterman’s case, an autoimmune reaction attacked a large swath of his nervous system, leaving him with no tactile or proprioceptive sensations from the neck down. But deafferentation is just one of many somatosensory disorders. Individuals can receive damage to a specific brain area or a section of skin, resulting in the loss of certain sensations in particular locations. And the impact of this loss can be significant. Losing tactile sensations makes it difficult to gauge how much strength to use in a situation. Without the warning signals provided by thermal and pain stimuli, we don’t react when our bodies are damaged. And, being deprived of social touch can cause a condition known as touch starvation, characterized by anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, and even a weakened immune system.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
nervous system 2


Important Words


  1. anxiety
  2. area
  3. attacked
  4. autoimmune
  5. blood
  6. bodies
  7. bodily
  8. brain
  9. breaks
  10. case
  11. characterized
  12. condition
  13. constant
  14. damage
  15. damaged
  16. deafferentation
  17. depression
  18. deprived
  19. difficult
  20. disorders
  21. flood
  22. functions
  23. gauge
  24. generate
  25. high
  26. immune
  27. impact
  28. individuals
  29. large
  30. leaving
  31. locations
  32. losing
  33. loss
  34. manifest
  35. neck
  36. nerves
  37. nervous
  38. network
  39. pain
  40. pressure
  41. process
  42. proprioceptive
  43. react
  44. reaction
  45. receive
  46. receptors
  47. resulting
  48. section
  49. sensations
  50. signals
  51. significant
  52. situation
  53. skin
  54. social
  55. somatosensory
  56. specific
  57. starvation
  58. stimuli
  59. strength
  60. swath
  61. system
  62. tactile
  63. thermal
  64. touch
  65. travel
  66. underpins
  67. variety
  68. warning
  69. ways
  70. weakened
  71. wide