Final Exam Flashcards
what does somatic sensation enable?
enables us to feel, ache, and sense temp and pressure
how is the somatic sensory system different from other systems?
broadly distributed receptors and responds to multiple different stimuli
types of skin
hairy and glabrous
layers of skin
epidermis (outer) and dermis (inner)
what are the functions of skin?
protects, prevents evaporation of bodily fluids, and provides direct contact with the world
what are most somatosensory receptors? what are they sensitive to?
mechanoreceptors; physical distortion
what are the difference mechanoreceptors?
pacinian corpuscles, ruffini’s endings, meissner’s corpuscles, and merkel’s disks
pacinian corpuscles
highest densities in the fingers, lies deep, mm size
meissner’s corpuscles
in the ridges of glabrous skin, 1/10 size of p.c.
what are merkel’s disks made up of?
a nerve terminal and a flattened non-neural epithelial cell
how do mechanoreceptors vary?
stimulus frequencies, pressures, receptive fields, and responses to long-lasting stimuli
what are Pacinian corpuscles sensitive to?
vibrations of ~ 200-300 Hz
what are Meissner’s corpuscles sensitive to the best?
vibrations around 50 Hz
how do mechanoreceptors convert mechanical force to a change in ion current?
they have unmyelinated axon terminals with ion channels that are connected to proteins. when mechanical stimuli is present, a release of second messengers is tiggered
two-point discrimination
ability to discriminate the detailed features of a stimulus (between two points) varies throughout the body
how much does two-point discrimination vary across the body?
20-fold
why are fingertips good for Braille reading?
higher density of mechanoreceptors, enriched in receptor types with small receptive fields, more brain tissue, and there may be special neural mech.s for high-res discriminations
where are primary afferent axons primarily located?
dorsal root of spinal cord; enter cord through there.
characteristics of C fibers (primary afferent axons)
- mediate pain, temp, and itch
- no myelin & ~1 um in diameter
- slowest (0.5-1 m/sec)
what do Abeta primary afferent axons mediate?
touch sensations
4 divisions of the spine and their vertebral adjacents
cervical (1-8)
thoracic (1-12)
lumbar (1-5)
sacral(1-5)
total spinal segments?
30
dermatones
area of skin innervated by right and left dorsal roost of spinal segment; one-to-one correspondence with spinal segments (vertebrae)
what is shingles and what is it’s connection to sensation?
herpes virus (chickenpox) that remains in primary sensory neurons and revives; restricted to skin innervated by axons of affected dorsal root
how many branches do the Abeta axons have and what do they do?
2 branches. one is on second-order sensory neurons & does rapid unconscious reflexes. other is responsible for perception
where do the Abeta axons enter the spinal cord?
in the ipsilateral dorsal column
where do the axons of the dorsal column go in the brain?
dorsal column nuclei @ junction of spinal cord and medulla
what is special about dorsal column axons?
some of the longest axons
where do the axons of the dorsal column decussate to?
VP nucleus of thalamus and primary somatosensory cortex (S1)
what are the sections of the somatosensory areas?
- postcentral gyrus of somatos. cortex (1, 2, 3a)
- Brodmann’s area of somatos. cortex (3b)
- posterior parietal cortex (5 and 7)
what is considered the primary somatic sensory cortex and why?
area 3b (Brodmann’s)
- receives dense inputs from VP nucleus
- very responsive
- lesions impair somatic sensation
- evokes somatic sensory experiences when electrically stimmied
what info does area 3b send to area 1?
texture info
what info does area 3b send to area 2?
emphasizes shape and size
where do thalamic inputs to 3b (S1) terminate
mainly in layer IV
how are S1 (3b) neurons organized?
alternating layers stacked vertically into 6 columns
what is the main difference between the two types of cortical layers in S1?
one has rapidly adapting sensory responses and one has slowly adapting sensory responses
what did Wilder Penfield discover?
electrical stimulation of S1 surface can map somatic sensations localized across the body
somatotopy
mapping of the body’s surface sensations onto the brain (think that really weird cartoon about the different regions of sensation on the brain)
barrel cortex
sensory signals from each vibrissa follicle go to one clearly defined cluster of S1 neurons
how many maps of the body does the somatic sensory system have? what are some examples?
many maps; some are mirrored (owls monkey hand area)
what happens when someone looses a digit (in owl monkey)?
- neurons devoted to amputated digit will respond to others
- rep of remaining digits expand to compensate in map
- phantom limb possible
red muscle fibers
large # of mitochondria and enzymes, slow to contract, can sustain contraction; antigravity muscles of leg and torso
white muscle fibers / fast fibers
fewer mitochondria, anaerobic metabolism, contract and fatigue rapidly; human arm muscles
fatigue-resistant fast fibers
white fibers with moderate strength and fast contractions
fast fatigue fibers
fastest, strongest white fibers but rapidly fatiguing
motor unit
motor neuron + the muscle fibers it innervates
how many types of muscle fibers can a motor unit have?
only one
how many muscle fiber types do most muscles have?
all three (red, fatigue-resistant, and fast fatigable)
two types of motor units
slow and fast
repeated trains of APs lead to different….
rates of fatigue
what did the crossed-innervation experiment discover?
switched nerve input -> switch in muscle phenotype
how can you switch muscle phenotype?
switching the activity of the motor neuron
can a switch in neuron phenotype happen irl?
yes, with changes in synaptic activity with experience
when are muscle fibers formed?
early in fetal development by fusion of muscle precursor cells
basic anatomy of muscle fiber
- each cell has >1 nucleus
- fibers enclosed in sarcolemma (excitable membrane)
- layers of contractable myofibrils inside
excitation-contraction coupling
alpha motor neurons release ACh -> ACh induce EPSP -> EPSP invoke AP -> AP release Ca+2 -> fiber contracts -> calcium reuptake -> fiber relaxes
sarcomere anatomy
alternating I and A bands, I contains Z line, A contains H zone. sarcomere extends from one Z line to another
how does muscle contraction occur in regards to the filaments?
thin filaments slide along thick filaments, bringing Z lines together and shortening the sarcomere
muscle spindles
deep in skeletal muscles; contain stretch receptor; example of proprioceptors
proprioceptors
“body sense”
how do stretch receptors cause the muscle to shorten/contract?
stretching leads to depolarization of Ia axon -> opening of mechanosensitive ion channels -> AP discharge from Ia depolarizes alpha motor neurons -> contraction
stretch reflex
muscle wants to pull back when it’s being pulled
discharge of Ia sensory axons is closely related to …
length of the muscle
example of stretch relfex?
knee-jerk
many inputs to motor neurons are mediated by…
spinal interneurons
reciprocal inhibition
contraction of one muscle set is accompanied by relaxation of anatgonist muscle
reciprocal inhibition is done because…
inhibitory spinal interneurons are between the Ia axon from the contracting muscle and the alpha motor neuron going to the antagonist muscle
flexor reflect
withdraw a limb from an aversive stimulus; excitatory interneurons