# The "center" of parts of your body **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277 "2011-03-28T16:35:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277/1 "2011-03-28T16:35:04Z")
This has always been something I’ve assumed is normal, but I’ve never heard it articulated, so now I’m wondering if it’s some kind of synesthenia peculiar to me. I have a “center” to certain parts of my body. Pressure there with a fingernail or other relatively sharp object feels symmetrical, “just right”, or “satisfying”. Similar pressure nearby, but not on, that point feels asymmetric. These spots are very specific and very small - less than a quarter-inch across. Those that I can currently identify are: [ul][li]The top middle of my head (not the crown of my hair)[/li][li]The center of my chin, halfway between the lips and the bottom of the chin[/li][li]The insides of my elbows[/li][li]The centers of the wrist joint on the outer parts of the wrists[/li][li]The centers of the palms of my hands[/li][li]The centers of the backs of my knees[/li][li]The middles of the joints just below my kneecaps[/li][li]The centers of the soles of my feet[/ul]There are none I can find on my face, back, buttocks, or genitals. It feels like there should be one on the back of my neck, but I can’t find it.[/li] Does anyone else experience this? If so, what causes it (clusters of nerve endings?)? Is there a name for it? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277/2 "2011-03-28T19:03:24Z")
I don’t know about that, but each segment of your body has a Center of Gravity, and rotating parts have a Center of Rotation. I know because I did a lot of measurements of this kind of thing for a Biomechanics project. There are regression formulas you can use to locate these various centers. Maybe if you use them, you can see if they coincide with your subjectively determined “centers”. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277/3 "2011-03-28T19:45:05Z")
This may be related. I have a couple of spots that, if I apply pressure as you described, sometimes I’ll feel a whole lot of tension in surrounding muscles, that I wasn’t consciously aware of previously, suddenly releasing. The main one is right between my eyebrows. (My theory is that, most of the time, I’m exerting muscular effort to keep my head from falling forward, and if I lean forward a bit and support my head at that spot, those muscles can suddenly take a break.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277/4 "2011-03-28T20:00:47Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I have a “center” to certain parts of my body. Pressure there with a fingernail or other relatively sharp object feels symmetrical, “just right”, or “satisfying”. Similar pressure nearby, but not on, that point feels asymmetric. :dubious: Sounds a leeeetle bit wacky to me. ---
**Author:** ![wonder\_lust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@wonder\_lust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder_lust)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277/5 "2011-03-28T20:51:53Z")
I think you could explain this to me for 8 hours straight and I still wouldn’t understand. Please don’t. You should definitely celebrate your weirdness, though. It’s fun. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277/6 "2011-03-28T22:13:47Z")
I get that “just right”/satisfying feeling. I feel it for most of your spots, except for the center of the soles of my feet, because I am heavily ticklish, even when it’s me touching my feet, the center of palms, and the center of the back of the knees. And I would add for me: - center of the neck joining the head on the back - center of sacrum, (or just above the sacrum, can’t really say) - that spot between hand and wrist, on the inside of the wrist ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277/7 "2011-03-28T22:18:34Z")
> [@BleizDu](#): > > I get that “just right”/satisfying feeling. Oh thank god. 😉 Have you ever shared this with anyone before? Did they get what you meant? ---
**Author:** ![Kerrigan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/49beb7/32.png) [@Kerrigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kerrigan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277/8 "2011-03-29T03:08:19Z")
I get what you’re saying… Because it has bothered me for many years that when I trace an imaginary line down what “feels like” the center of my thigh, it’s really quite a bit closer to the outside of my leg than the front. Never mentioned it to anyone before, but since you ask… ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277/9 "2011-03-29T09:19:01Z")
I never talked about this, I kinda thought all people felt that! ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-center-of-parts-of-your-body/576277/10 "2011-03-29T10:11:28Z")
Maybe these points you find that ‘balance’ you, correlate to acupuncture [meridians](http://www.acumedico.com/meridians.htm)