sensory
Meaning of sensory: Sensory nerves and pathways carry information about touch, pain, temperature, and position from the body to the brain for processing.
Definition of sensory
Sensory means relating to the senses or to the nerves and pathways that carry sensory information toward the brain and spinal cord. The word is most often used in describing the sensory nervous system, which includes nerves that detect touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and the position of the limbs, as distinguished from the motor nervous system, which carries signals outward to control muscle movement.
A sensory examination assesses how well a person can detect these different types of stimulation in various parts of the body, which can help identify where along a nerve pathway a problem may be occurring. Sensory symptoms, such as numbness, tingling, or altered sensation, can result from a problem anywhere along the pathway from the skin or other tissue to the brain.
The word also appears in describing the special senses, such as vision, hearing, taste, and smell, each of which relies on its own dedicated sensory pathway.
Used in a sentence
The neurologic examination documented a sensory deficit affecting the lateral aspect of the lower leg.
Good to know
A sensory deficit that follows the distribution of a specific nerve suggests a different underlying problem than one that follows a pattern affecting the spinal cord or brain, which is why the exact distribution of symptoms is carefully documented.