The area of cortex that gets input from part of the thalamus (ventrobasal complex), which in turn receives the most direct input from the skin. It consists of three areas. The primary (or somesthetic) somatosensory area occupies the post central gyrus just behind the central sulcus of the temporal lobe and maps body parts, with disproportionate representations for the hands, lips and tongue. The much smaller, secondary somatosensory area in the parietal lobes responds specifically to painful stimuli conveyed by the peripheral nervous system. Finally, the somatosensory (or somesthetic or supplementary) association area, just behind the primary somatosensory cortex, is the site for stereognosis (the tactile or haptic identification of solid or three-dimensional objects).
See Cerebral lobes, Object unity, Ocular dominance columns, Parietal cortex, Peripheral nervous system, Primary motor cortex, Pulvinar, Primary motor cortex, Pulvinar, Stellate cells, Thalamus