Assignment #5: Sensory System Flashcards
Which cranial nerves are involved in gustatory senses? Provide name
and number.
VII Facial nerve
IX Glossopharyngeal nerve
X Vagus nerve
If a drug were administered that blocked G-protein coupled receptors within taste bud receptor cells, list the flavor categories that would no longer be detected:
Sweetness
Bitterness
Umami/Savory
Describe what happens to the membrane potential of a photoreceptor cell before,
during, and after exposure to light.
In the absence of light, the cell is continuously depolarized to -30mV (before and after light exposure).
In the presence of light, the cell becomes hyperpolarized to almost -60mV (with some adaptation as light is sustained).
A drug acts to selectively inhibit phosphodiesterase in rods cells of retina. Describe the outcome if light is applied while the drug is present, including effects on cGMP, cyclic-nucleotide-gated sodium channels, glutamate release,
and activity of postsynaptic cells in response.
cGMP levels will rise as it will not be broken down by phosphodiesterase.
Cyclic-nucleotide-gated sodium channels will remain open due to high cGMP levels (aka dark current).
The rod cell will continue to release glutamate because it will remain depolarized.
The bipolar cell will remain inhibited due to the presence of (in this case inhibitory) glutamate in the synapse.
Sensory information on its way from your hand to the cerebral cortex would pass through the following structures. Place them in the correct order.
Thalamus, Medulla oblongata, Spinal cord, Midbrain
1) Spinal cord
2) Medulla oblongata
3) Midbrain
4) Thalamus
What is the functional category of somatosensory neurons that respond to pain? At the level of the receptor cell, how do they differ structurally from neurons that respond to touch or pressure?
Receptor: nociceptor (no penalty for spelling)
Structure: free nerve endings (non-encapsulated), small diameter, unmyelinated
The primary olfactory and gustatory areas in the cortex are located in
the ________lobe and ______ lobe, respectively.
Temporal lobe, Parietal lobe
These cells will regenerate after damage.
A) “Olfactory receptor, but not gustatory cells”
B) Both olfactory and gustatory cells
C) Hair cells
D) Rods and cones
E) None of these cells could regenerate
B) Both olfactory and gustatory cells
These cells provide for the sense of taste.
A) Olfactory hair cells
B) Tastant Cells
C) Basal stem cells
D) General receptor cells
E) Gustatory cells
E) Gustatory cells
Which of the following nerves serves a gustatory function?
A) Vestibulochochlear
B) Oculomotor
C) Vagus
D) Trigeminal
E) Spinal accessory
C) Vagus
Which of the structures below converts vibrations to receptor potentials?
A) Pinna
B) Tympanic membrane
C) Organ of Corti
D) Vestibulocochlear nerve
C) Organ of Corti
Which of the structures below senses dynamic equilibrium?
A) Cochlea
B) Semicircular canals
C) Maccule of vestibule
D) Organ of Corti
E) Vestibulocochlear nerve
B) Semicircular canals
A _______ conducts impulses from the somatic receptors in the brain stem or
spinal cord.
A) first order neuron
B) second order neuron
C) third order neuron
D) Both A and B
E) None of the above
A) first order neuron
A _______ conducts impulses from the brain stem and spinal cord to the thalamus.
A) first order neuron
B) second order neuron
C) third order neuron
D) Both A and B
E) None of the above
B) second order neuron
A _______ conducts impulses from the thalamus to the primarys somatosensory area of the ipsilateral cortex.
A) first order neuron
B) second order neuron
C) third order neuron
D) post-ganglionic neuron
E) None of the above
C) third order neuron
