Final answer:
Merkel's disks are slowly-adapting, unencapsulated tactile receptors in the dermis of the skin that respond to light touch and are highly sensitive to details, such as edges, making them crucial for precision tasks.
Step-by-step explanation:
Tactile Discs (Merkel's Discs)
Merkel's disks are a type of mechanoreceptor located in the dermislayer of the skin, which are part of the array of tactile receptors that allow us to sense different types of touch stimuli. Specifically, Merkel's disks are found in both hairy and hairless skin, such as the fingertips and lips, and are responsible for detecting light touch. They are characterized as slow-adapting, unencapsulated nerve endings with small, well-defined receptive fields, making them extremely sensitive to edges and fine details. This sensitivity makes them particularly important in tasks where precision is needed, like typing or reading Braille.
Humans possess a variety of mechanoreceptors that include not only Merkel's disks but also Meissner's corpuscles, Ruffini endings, and Pacinian corpuscles. These receptors vary in their response to stimuli—some respond rapidly to light touch while others are attuned to different tactile sensations such as pressure or stretch. Each has a unique structure and function, contributing to our complex sense of touch.
The complete question is:tactile discs (TYPE 1) is: