http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=7941&utm_source=feedburner&...

Persons lacking known nerve receptors can still touch and feel; may shed light on causes of unexplained pain such as fibromyalgia.

December 15, 2009 – (Albany, N.Y., USA) The human sensory experience is far more complex and nuanced than previously thought, according to a groundbreaking new study published in the December 15 issue of the journal Pain (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19836135 ). In the article, researchers at Albany Medical College, the University of Liverpool and Cambridge University report that the human body has an entirely unique and separate sensory system aside from the nerves that give most of us the ability to touch and feel. Surprisingly, this sensory network is located throughout our blood vessels and sweat glands, and is for most people, largely imperceptible.

“It's almost like hearing the subtle sound of a single instrument in the midst of a symphony,” said senior author Frank Rice, PhD, a Neuroscience Professor at Albany Medical College (AMC), who is a leading authority on the nerve supply to the skin. “It is only when we shift focus away from the nerve endings associated with normal skin sensation that we can appreciate the sensation hidden in the background.”