Chapter 12

Question 1

Mechanoreceptors

Answer 1

Sensory receptors that transducer mechanical deformations of the skin in neural signals that are sent to the brain

Question 2

SAI mechanoreceptors

Answer 2

Slow-adapting mechanoreceptors with Merkel cell endings; they have relatively small receptive fields and are relatively densely arranged near the surface of the skin

Question 3

SAII mechanoreceptors

Answer 3

Slow-adapting mechanoreceptors; they have relatively large receptive fields and are relatively sparsely distributed relatively deeply in the skin

Question 4

FAI mechanoreceptors

Answer 4

Fast adapting mechanoreceptors and Meissner corpuscle endings

Question 5

FAII mechanoreceptors

Answer 5

Fast-adapting mechanoreceptors with pacinian corpuscle endings; they have relatively large receptive fields and are relatively sparsely distributed relatively deeply in the skin

Question 6

Merkel cells

Answer 6

Specialized endings of SAI mechanoreceptors, where transduction takes place

Question 7

Meissner Corpuscles

Answer 7

Specialized in mints of FAI mechanoreceptors, where transduction takes place

Question 8

Pacinian corpuscles

Answer 8

Specialized endings of FAII receptors, where transduction takes place

Question 9

C-tactile mechanoreceptors

Answer 9

Mechanoreceptors that are a type of free nerve endings only present on hairy skin, they responds to slow, gentle touch and send signals to the insular cortex

Question 10

Proprioception

Answer 10

Perception of the position and movement of body parts, based on the information in neural signals from specialized sensors within those body parts

Question 11

Muscle spindles

Answer 11

Sensory organs that provide information about muscle length, as well as information about isometric forces on muscles, for proprioception

Question 12

Golgi tendon organs

Answer 12

Sensory organs that provide information about muscle force for proprioception

Question 13

Joint receptors

Answer 13

Sensory organs that provide information about joint angle, probably to signal when a joint had reached the limit of its normal motion

Question 14

Pain

Answer 14

An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience caused by potential or actual tissue damage, pain can arise from a wide range of different causes and can evoke an equally wide range of perceptual experiences

Question 15

Nocioception

Answer 15

The perception of pain

Question 16

Nocioceptive pain

Answer 16

Pain that arises from tissue damage due to physical trauma

Question 17

Nocioceptors

Answer 17

Sensory receptors that transduce the physical stimuli associated with damaging mechanical, thermal, or chemical events, included among th free nerve endings in the epidermis and dermis

Question 18

Sensitization

Answer 18

A mechanism that decreases the response threshold of nocioceptors, so that even very low level stimulation of an injury site can cause pain

Question 19

A-delta fibers

Answer 19

Myelinated axons of nocioceptors that transmit pain signals relatively rapidly. To produce a rapid response to potentially damaging mechanical stimuli and to excessive heat

Question 20

C fibers

Answer 20

Unmyelinated axons of nocioceptors that transmit pain signals relatively slowly.

Question 21

Thermoreception

Answer 21

The ability to sense the temperature of objects and surfaces in contact with the skin

Question 22

Tactile perception

Answer 22

Perception that results from the mechanical deformation indentation, vibration, or stretching

Question 23

Warm fibers

Answer 23

Thermoreceptors that fire at an ongoing moderate rate in response to sustained skin temperatures in the range of 29-43 C

Question 24

Cold Fibers

Answer 24

Thermoreceptors that fire at an ongoing moderate rate in response to sustained skin temperatures in the range of 17-40 C

Question 25

Dorsal column-medial lemniscal pathway

Answer 25

Pathway for signals involved in tactile perception and proprioception; travels up the spinal cord on the ipsilateral side, crosses to the contralateral side in the medulla, and then goes through the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus and on to the somatosensory cortex

Question 26

Spinothalamic

Answer 26

Pathway for signals involved in nocioception and themoreception

Question 27

Ventral posterior nucleus

Answer 27

A nucleus of the thalamus part of both the DCML pathway and the spinothalamic pathway

Question 28

Somatosensory cortex

Answer 28

A region of the cerebral cortex in the anterior parietal lobe; receives signals carrying sensory information via the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus

Question 29

Primary somatosensory cortex

Answer 29

A subregion of the somatosensory cortex, the first sea to receive somatosensory signals from the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus

Question 30

Secondary somatosensory cortex

Answer 30

A subregion of the somatosensory cortex; receives signals from area S1

Question 31

Somatotopic map

Answer 31

A mapping of the body surface onto the somatosensory cortex; whereby adjacent locations on the cortex receive somatosensory signals from adjacent locations on the body

Question 32

Endogenous opioids

Answer 32

Compounds that belong to a class of substances called opiates: released by the body in response to painful or stressful experiences

Question 33

Endorphins

Answer 33

Endogenous opioids that have an inhibitory effect on pain-related neural signals in many areas of the central nervous system, reducing the perceived intensity of pain.

Question 34

Cortical plasticity

Answer 34

The ability of the adult cortex to change the way it’s organized

Question 35

Haptic perception

Answer 35

Actively using touch to perceive and identify objects by their 3D shape and other material properties; involves the integration of information from tactile perception, proprioception, and thermoreception

Question 36

Exploratory procedures

Answer 36

Hand and finger movements typically used by people to identify objects haptically

Question 37

Tactile agnosia

Answer 37

An inability to recognize objects by touch, which can result from damage to the parietal cortex, specifically to area S2

Question 38

Vestibular system

Answer 38

The sense organs used to produce neural signals carrying information about balance and acceleration; includes the semicircular canals and the otolith organs

Question 39

Semicircular canals

Answer 39

Part of the vestibular system; three mutually perpendicular hollow curved tubes in the skull filled with endolymph; responsible for signaling head rotation

Question 40

Otolith organs

Answer 40

Part of the vestibular system; consist of the utricle and the saccule; responsible for signalling when the head is undergoing linear acceleration or being held in a tilted position

Question 41

Vestibule-ocular reflex

Answer 41

An unconscious compensating movement of the eyes during head movements in order to maintain a stable gaze