chapter 13 Flashcards
Peripheral Nervous system
All neural structures outside the brain
- sensory receptors
- peripheral nerves and associated ganglia
- motor nerves
sensory receptors
- specialized to respond to changes in their environment (stimuli)
- activation results in graded potentials that trigger nerve impulses
- sensation (awareness of stimulus) and perception (interpretation of the meaning of the stimulus) occur in the brain
classification of receptors
Based on:
A) stimulus type (name indicates the type of stimulus: thermoreceptors)
B) Location (respond to either internal or external stimuli)
C)Structural complexity
- general senses-simple
- special senses- complex (vision, hearing, taste, smell)
Mechanoreceptors
respond to touch, pressure, vibration, stretch, and itch
thermoreceptors
sensitive to changes in temperature
photoreceptors
respond to light energy (e.g., retina)
chemoreceptors
respond to chemicals (e.g., smell, taste, changes in blood chemistry)
nociceptors
sensitive to pain-causing stimuli (e.g. extreme heat or cold, excessive pressure, inflammatory chemicals)
classification of receptors by location
- exteroceptors
- interoceptors-viscero
- proprioceptors
from sensation to perception
-survival depends upon sensation and perception
- sensation: the awareness of changes in the internal and external environment
- input comes from sensory receptors
- perception: the conscious interpretation of that stimuli
- this occurs in the brain
sensory integration
- receptor level- the sensor receptors. sensory reception and transmission to the CNS
- circuit level- ascending pathways (spinal cord and brain stem)
- perceptual level- neuronal circuits in the cerebral cortex. processing in cortical sensory centers
adaptation of sensory receptors
Adaptation: a change in sensitivity in the presence of a constant stimulus (bright light)
Phasic (fast-adapting) receptors signal the beginning or end of a stimulus, signals a change
Examples: receptors for pressure, touch, and smell (clothing)
Tonic receptors adapt slowly or not at all
Examples: nociceptors and most proprioceptor
structure of a nerve
- cordlike organ of the PNS
- Bundle of myelinated and unmyelinated peripheral axons enclosed by connective tissue
endoneurium
loose connective tissue that encloses axons and their myelin sheaths
perineurium
coarse CT that bundles fibers into fascicles
epineurium
tough fibrous sheath around a nerve
classification of nerve
most nerves are mixtures of afferent and efferent fibers:
- somatic afferent and somatic efferent
- visceral afferent and visceral efferent
->peripheral nerves are classified as cranial or spinal nerves
ganglia-collections of cell bodies in PNS
- dorsal root ganglia (sensory, somatic)
- autonomic ganglia (motor, visceral)