Vibration Sense

a sensation arising under the influence of the successive alternation of mechanical (primarily sonic) stimuli that vary in intensity and frequency. The vibration “sense” is distinct from the sensation of pressure or touch. Vibration is perceived by mechanoreceptors, particularly the Pacinian corpuscles, which are located in various parts of the body (near blood vessels and in the periosteum and hypodermic tissue); they are especially numerous in the wrists and the soles of the feet. Various devices that transform sonic and visual signals into mechanical oscillations permit deaf or blind persons to increase the volume of information received from their environment by means of the vibration “sensed.”