3. Physio Flashcards
does touch and pain signal travel separately?
yes
contralateral
Signals start from left body and ends at right cortex
Spinothalamic pathway is for…
pain pathway (start from spinal cord to thalamus)
describe spinothalamic pathway
pain efferent (1st order neuron) → enters spinal cord → synapse with 2nd order neuron in dorsal horn of spinal cord → cross over → travels in ventrolateral quadrant → thalamus → synapse to 3rd order neuron → somatosensory cortex
Dorsal column pathway is for…
touch pathway (start from dorsal column and synapse in the brain)
describe dorsal column pathway
touch afferent (1st order neuron) → moves up dorsal column → at medulla oblongata, synapse with 2nd order neuron → cross over → thalamus → synapse to 3rd order neuron → somatosensory cortex
4 principles underlying sensory processing
- The relay use action potential (AP) as signal to relay information
- The signal travels along topographic lines
- The signal travels along labeled line
- The signal along the relay encode for properties of the stimuli such as intensity
where is AP generated
axon hillock/ trigger zone
topographic lines
- different population of afferents relay information from different region (hand afferent relay info from hand, feet afferent relay info from feet)
- all relays remain separated, even in the cortex
where does sensory relays end
somatosensory cortex
how are neurons in somatosensory arranged
- medial part (middle): receive signal from lower part of body
- lateral part (towards the sides): receive signal from upper part of body
why does the face takes up a large portion of the somatosensory cortex
more sensitive, more neuron pathways
labeled line
receptor and primary afferent only respond to one type of stimulus (separation of signal starts from the receptors)
importance of labelled line
identification of modality (nature of stimulus), aka separate receptors for different stimuli
- touch receptor activated → Aß fibers → touch sensation
- pain receptor activated → Aδ and C fibers → pain sensation
increasing rate of electrical stimulation through touch will…
increase MAGNITUDE of touch sensation (will not cause pain)
The signal along the relay encode for properties of the stimuli such as intensity (meaning)
eg intensity: the more intense the stimulus, the more number of AP per unit time (frequency) = more intense sensation
frequency code
increase intensity of stimuli = increasing no. of AP per unit time