Chapter 12, End of Chapter, Review Questions, Exercise 1

Mechanoreceptors are the sensory receptors of the skin. The stimulus for these receptors includes pressure, vibrations, stretch, and touch. 

The somatic sensory system is formed of neurons that allows one to feel or sense the changes, such as temperature, sound, pressure, or touch in the physical environment. The receptors for somatic sensory systems are present in the body's periphery. Thermoreceptors and mechanoreceptors are present in the periphery that function to detect temperature and pressure changes, respectively. The spinal cord possesses neurons that function to pass information from various receptors to the brain. The different parts of the brain help interpret the sensations received from the body parts.

Meissner's corpuscles are the receptors that would help distinguish between the two surfaces. This is because these receptors are present very close to the skin surface and would receive the maximum amount of sensation about the surface than any other receptors. Meissner's corpuscles are also rapidly adapting, that is, they have a very short response time. Merkel's disk and Pacinian corpuscles might also be involved, as they are present near to the skin and are rapidly adapting, respectively. 

The somatic sensory receptors allow one to feel or sense the changes in the physical environment. The vibrations and pressure stimulus detected would be the less for glass surfaces, and higher for the brick surface as the brick surface is rougher than the glass surface.