Chapter 11: Sense Organs Flashcards
Sensory receptors transmit information about?
Type, location, and intensity
Receptive field
a certain area a sensory neuron responds to stimuli
Chemoreceptors
receptors that react to various chemicals, including odors and tastes, as well as the concentration of various chemicals in the body
Mechanoreceptors
Receptors that respond to factors such as pressure, stretch, or vibration
Thermoreceptors
Receptors activated by a change in temperature
Nociceptors
Pain receptors that respond to tissue damage from trauma as well as from heat, chemicals, pressure, or a lack of oxygen.
Photoreceptors
Receptors that respond to light (found only in the eyes)
Adaptation
When a stimulus is continuous, the firing frequency of the nerve begins to slow, causing the sensation to diminish
Proprioceptor
Specialized receptor found in skeletal muscle, joints, and tendons, proprioceptors provide info about body movement, muscle stretch, and the general orientation of the body
Fast Pain Fibers
Abundant in the skin and mucous membranes, these fibers produce a sharp, localized, stabbing-type pain at the time of injury
Slow Pain Fibers
These fibers are congregated on deep body organs and structures and produce a dull, aching pain
What do the general senses include?
Pain, pressure, touch, stretch, and temperature
Referred Pain
Pain originating in a deep organ that may be sensed as if its originating from the body’s surface - sometimes at a totally different part of the body
Analgesics
Drugs used to relieve pain
Gustation
The sense of taste
Papillae
Protrusions on the tongue, where most taste buds are located.
Vallate papillae
Large papillae found at the rear of the tongue; contain up to half of all taste buds
Foliate papillae
form ridges at the sides of the tongue
Filiform papillae
Thread-like papillae that contain no taste buds; play a role in helping distinguish the texture of food
Gustatory/taste cells
chemoreceptors in taste buds
What are the primary tastes?
Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami
Olfaction
The sense of smell
Auricle(pinna)
The visible part of the ear, part of the ear that funnels sound into the auditory canal
Auditory Canal
leads through the temporal bone to the eardrum
Auditory ossicles
The 3 smallest bones in the body that connect the eardrum to the inner ear: Malleus(hammer), Incus(anvil), Stapes(stirrup)
Tympanic Membrane
Separates the outer ear from the middle ear; it vibrates freely in response to sound waves
Auditory/Eustachian Tube
Passageway from the middle ear to the nasopharnyx, its purpose is to equalize pressure on both sides of the tympanic membrane.
Otitis Media
Middle ear infections(occur commonly in children)
Semicircular canals
Structures that are crucial for the maintenance of equilibrium and balance
Vestibule
Structure that marks the entrance to the labyrinths, contains organs necessary for the sense of balance
Cochlea
Snail-like structure contains the structures for hearing
Cochlear duct
The middle compartment of the spirals of the cochlea, filled with endolymph
organ of Corti
The hearing sense organ
Tectorial membrane
Gelatin-like membrane of the organ of Corti
Conductive hearing loss
Anything that interferes with the transmission of vibrations to the inner ear will result in a hearing loss
Sensoineural hearing loss
This type of hearing often results from the death of hair cells in the organ of Corti, usually a result of frequent exposure to sustained loud noise
What structures play a key role in balance?
The vestibule and semicircular canals of the inner ear
Ampulla
A bulb-like mound of hair cells topped by a gelatinous cone-shaped called the cupula at the end of each canal
