in your mouth, why can your tongue locate something between your teeth better than your finger?

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For example, if you get a piece of popcorn stuck between your teeth somewhere, it feels like your tongue can find exactly where it is, but when you go to reach for it with your finger you can’t feel it. It feels like your finger is ‘blind’ and touching the wrong area.

Does this have something to do with your tongue being in your mouth all the time so it’s ‘familiar’ with the environment as opposed to your fingers? Is this a sensation/perception issue?

In: Biology

5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because your tongue lives there and the finger is just a visitor.

I know my house even when blind but a friend knows the main layout, not the details.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Cuz the tongue has more nerve endings making it more sensitive to touch and finding things. [https://www.quora.com/What-part-of-the-body-has-the-most-nerve-endings](https://www.quora.com/What-part-of-the-body-has-the-most-nerve-endings)

Anonymous 0 Comments

Your tongue has a lot more experience in your mouth than your fingers …….in most cases

Anonymous 0 Comments

Nerve endings. Teeth and tongue both.

Lose all your teeth and that ability basically evaporates.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The tongue has a much higher density of sensory receptors compared to your fingers. It’s packed with mechanoreceptors (touch sensors) and proprioceptors (position sensors), making it extremely sensitive to texture, pressure, and spatial information within the mouth. A disproportionately large area of the somatosensory cortex in the brain is devoted to processing sensory information from the tongue and mouth. Also, the tongue’s muscular structure and flexibility allow it to conform to the shape of teeth, providing more surface area contact than a relatively rigid finger.