Chapter 5 Flashcards
sensation
the detection of sensory stimuli by sensory receptors
transduction
sensory signal input converted into patterns of neural activity
perception *
the organization, interpretation, and conscious experience of sensations
precept
mental representation of original stimulus
processing of sensory information pathway
receptor to thalamus to primary sensory cortex to secondary sensory cortex
thalamus *
gate for all sensory information (excluding olfaction); allows for multisensory integration
primary olfactory cortex
Piriform area; ventral junction of the frontal/temporal. Olfactory relay system
5 basic tastes
sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami
primary gustatory cortex
insula and operculum
secondary gustatory processing
orbitofrontal cortex; integration of taste and smell
proprioception
sensory and motor systems represent information about state of muscles and limbs
somatosensation
perception of all mechanical stimuli that affect the body
primary somatosensation
[S1], contains a somatotopic representation of the body by relative importance
secondary somatosensation
[S2], provides complex representations
photoreceptors
visual receptors of light; rods and cones
rods
type of photoreceptor associated with protein rhodopsin; becomes destabilized at low light
cones
type of photoreceptor associated with photopsin; requires intense light
fovea
central part of retina; acute and detailed vision
primary projection pathways
LGN, pulvinar, left visual fields, right visual fields
LGN (lateral geniculate nucleus)
part of thalamus; retinogeniculate pathways
pulvinar and superior colliculus
of thalamus and midbrain- critical role in visual attention
left visual field
right sides of both retina and right hemisphere
right visual field
left sides of both retina and left hemisphere
multimodal perception
unified multisensory experience
superior colliculus (multimodal)
contains orderly topographical maps in visual, tactile, and auditory domains
McGurk Effects
a perceptual illusion that occurs when the auditory and visual components of speech don’t match, causing the brain to perceive a third sound
synesthesia
An idiosyncratic union between (or within) sensory modalities
cortical plasticity
the brain’s ability to reorganize itself and form new neural connections based on experience
critical periods
a period of enhanced plasticity in the visual cortex during early development that allows for neuronal rewiring and rearrangement
cross modal plasticity
when a sensory system is missing, another sensory system may expand their cortical recruitment
