chapter 4.4

Question 1

what is our perception of feel dependant on?

Answer 1

the actions of several receptors located just beneath the skins surface and in muscles, joints and tendons

Question 2

where do these sensory receptors send information to regarding touch?

Answer 2

the somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes

Question 3

what is a two point threshold test?

Answer 3

a way to test sensitivity where points such as finger tips can detect 2 separate closely spaced pressure points but a place like the back cannot

Question 4

do men or woman have a more refined sense of touch?

Answer 4

women, because their pressure points are smaller and can detect more

Question 5

is touch very sensitive to change?

Answer 5

yes

Question 6

what are haptics?

Answer 6

the active exploratory aspect of touch sensation and perception that helps you identify objects

Question 7

fingers and hand coordinate their movements using what complementary body sense?

Answer 7

kinesthesis

Question 8

what is kinesthesis?

Answer 8

the sense bodily motion an position

Question 9

where are the receptors for kinesthesis?

Answer 9

in muscles, joints and tendons

Question 10

what kind of information do kinesthesis receptors send to the brain?

Answer 10

information about movement and the position of muscles, limbs and joints

Question 11

what is an example of kinesthesis?

Answer 11

it allows you to hold an object with enough resistance to avoid dropping it, and to keep your fingers and hand set in such a way to avoid it from it rolling out of my hands

Question 12

what is nociception?

Answer 12

the activity of nerve pathways that respond to uncomfortable stimulation

Question 13

where are nociceptors (nociception receptors) located?

Answer 13

our skin, teeth, corneas and internals organs

Question 14

what do nociceptors do?

Answer 14

they initiate pain messages that travel to the central nervous system

Question 15

what are the 2 kinds of nerve fibres that transmit pain?

Answer 15

fast fibres
slow fibers

Question 16

what kind of pain do fast fibres register?

Answer 16

sharp immediate pain such as the pain felt when your skin is scraped or cut

Question 17

what king of pain of slow fibres register?

Answer 17

chronic full pain such as lingering feelings of bumping your knee into the coffee table

Question 18

what is the gate-control theory?

Answer 18

a theory of pain perception which explains our experience of pain as an interaction between nerves that transmit pain messages and those that inhibit these messages

Question 19

according to the gate-control theory, what regulates how much pain signalling reaches the brain?

Answer 19

the spinal cord, it acts as a neural gate that pain messages must pass through

Question 20

what are 4 things that can influence how painful stimulus is perceived?

Answer 20

expectations
memory
attention
emotions

Question 21

what are phantom limb sensations?

Answer 21

frequently experienced by amputees who report pain and other sensations coming from their absent limb

Question 22

what is one explanation for phantom limb?

Answer 22

it suggests that rewiring occurs in the brain following the loss of the limb, the somatosensory cortex formerly associated with that body part now has no input. this causes the nerve cells to become hypersensitive when they lose connections and they continue too be active with no input at a hyper sensitive level, sometimes feeling like the limb is there

Question 23

what is one treatment for phantom limb?

Answer 23

mirror box therapy, if the amputee lost their left hand, they would put their right hand in a box with a mirror beside their hand. then they would move there right hand and watch in the mirror. they would create the visual appearance of having both limbs and would stretch the phantom hand to decrease the physical pain

Question 24

what is the gustatory system?

Answer 24

functions in the sensation that perception of taste

Question 25

what are the 5 primary tastes?

Answer 25

salty
sweet
bitter
sour
umami

Question 26

how many identifiable chemical compounds that make up taste are found in the foods we eat?

Answer 26

2500

Question 27

how many taste buds are on your tongue?

Answer 27

9000

Question 28

how many taste buds are found through out the sides and roof of our mouth?

Answer 28

roughly 1000

Question 29

where is the blind spot on our tongue?

Answer 29

in the middle

Question 30

how often to taste receptors replenish themselves through out the life span?

Answer 30

every 10 days, the only sensory receptor to do so

Question 31

where are the 2 regions where tastebuds send their signals?

Answer 31

the gustatory cortex
the second gustatory cortex

Question 32

what does the second gustatory cortex do?

Answer 32

it processes pleasurable experiences related with food

Question 33

why do some people experience taste very vividly while other do not?

Answer 33

the number of taste buds present on the tongue influences the psychological experience of taste

Question 34

who are supertasters?

Answer 34

are people who are especially sensitive to bitter tastes such as broccoli and black coffee and account for 25% pf the population

Question 35

what is the olfactory system?

Answer 35

the system involved in smell by the detection of airborne particles with specialized receptors located in the nose

Question 36

where does our sensation of smell begin?

Answer 36

with nasal air flow bringing in molecules that bind with receptors at the top of the nasal cavity

Question 37

what is the olfactory epithelium?

Answer 37

a thin layer of cells that are lined by sensory receptors called cilia in the nasal cavity

Question 38

how many different types of odour receptors do humans have?

Answer 38

roughly 1000 different types in their olfactory system

Question 39

how many different smells can human identify?

Answer 39

approximately 10,000

Question 40

how can we detect 10,000 smells but only have 1000 odour receptors?

Answer 40

different combinations of cilia are stimulated in response to different odours

Question 41

what are cilia?

Answer 41

tiny hair like projections that contain specialized proteins that bind with airborne molecules that enter the nasal cavity

Question 42

olfactory bulb