Chapter 12 Flashcards
vestibular organs
The set of five sense organs (three semicircular canals and two otolith organs) located in each inner ear that sense head motion and head orientation with respect to gravity.
spatial orientation
A sense consisting of three interacting modalities: perception of linear motion, angular motion and tilt.
vestibular system
The vestibular organs as well as the vestibular neurons in cranial nerve VIII and the centra neurons that contribute to the functional roles that the vestibular system participates in.
vertigo
A sensation of rotation or spinning; is often used more generally to mean any form of dizziness.
vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR)
A short-latency reflex that helps stabilize vision by counterrotating the eyes when the vestibular system senses head movement.
balance
The neural processes of postural control by which weight is evenly distributed, enabling us to remain upright and stable.
kinesthesia
Perception of the position and movement of our limbs in space.
active sensing
Sensing that includes self-generated probing of the environment.
efferent commands
Information flowing outward from the central nervous system to periphery.
afferent signals
Information flowing inward to the central nervous system from sensors in the periphery.
graviception
The physiological structures and processes that sense the relative orientation of gravity with respect to the organism.
angular motion
Rotational motion like the rotation of a spinning top or wining salon doors that rotate back and forth.
linear motion
Translational motion like the predominant movement of a train car or bobblehead doll.
tilt
To attain a sloped position like that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
transduce
To convert from one form of energy to another
semicircular canal
Any of three toroidal tubes in the vestibular system that sense angular motion.
angular acceleration
The rate of change of angular velocity.
otolith organ
Either of two mechanical structures (utricle and saccule) in the vestibular system that sense both linear acceleration and gravity.
linear acceleration
The rate of change of linear velocity.
sensory conflict
Sensory discrepancies that arise when sensory systems provide conflicting information.
sense of angular motion
The perceptual modality that senses rotation.
sense of linear motion
The perceptual modality that senses translation.
sense of tilt
The perceptual modality that senses head inclination with respect to gravity.
amplitude
(vestibular sensation) The size (increase / decrease) of a head movement.
direction
The line one moves along or faces, with reference to the point or region one is moving toward or facing.
hair cell
Any cell that has stereocilia for transducing mechanical movement in the inner ear into neural activity sent to the brain; some hair cells also receive inputs from the brain.
mechanoreceptor
A sensory receptor that responds to mechanical stimulation.
receptor potential
A change in voltage across the membrane of a sensory receptor cell in response to stimulation.
ampulla
An expansion of each semicircular-canal duct that includes that canal’s cupula, crista, and hair cells, where transduction occurs.
crista
Any of the specialized detectors of angular motion located in each semicircular canal in a swelling called the ampula.
oscillatory
Referring to back-and-forth movement that has a constant rhythm.
sinusoidal
Referring to any oscillation whose waveform is that of a sine curve.
Fourier analysis
A mathematical procedure by which any single can be separated into component sine waves at different frequencies. Combining these sine waves will reproduce the original motion trajectory.
utricle
One of the two otolith organs; a saclike structure that contains the utricular macula; also called utriculus,
saccule
One of the two otolith organs; a saclike structure that contains the saccular macula; also called sacculus.
macula
Any of the specialized detectors of linear acceleration and gravity found in each otolith organ.
otoconia
Tiny calcium carbonate stones in the ear that provide inertial mass for the otolith organs, enabling them to sense gravity and linear acceleration.
velocity storage
Prolongation of a rotational response by the brain beyond the duration of the rotational signal provided to the brain by the semicircular canals; typically yielding responses that are nearer the actual rotational motion than the signal provided by the canals.
mathematical integration
Computing an integral.
sensory integration
The process of combining different sensory signals. Typically, combining several signals
yields more accurate and/or more pre- cise information than can be obtained from individual sensory signals. This is not the mathematical process of inte- gration learned in calculus (e.g., the integral of acceleration is velocity).
vection
An illusory sense of self-motion caused by moving visual cues when one is not, in fact, actually moving.
sensory reafference
Change in afference caused by self-generated activity. .
sensory exafference
Change in afference caused by external stimuli.
autonomic nervous system
The part of the nervous system that is responsible for regulating many involuntary actions and that innervates glands, heart, digestive system, etc.
