Lecture 5 - Sensory Systems

Question 1

What is a sense?

Answer 1

Information received from sensory systems from external and internal environments through specialized cells at the periphery that is used to regulate movements

Question 2

What are specialized cells at the periphery responsible for?

Answer 2

Transmission of information to the CNS (afferent)

Question 3

What are the five senses?

Answer 3

Sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell

Question 4

What are other senses outside of the commonly known five senses?

Answer 4

Balance (vestibular), pain, pressure, itch, temperature, proprioception

Question 5

What three things do sensory receptors share in common?

Answer 5

They respond to a physical stimulus, convert stimulus to nerve impulses (APs), and give information for the CNS to use

Question 6

What happens when contact with a particular stimuli occurs?

Answer 6

Changes in the membrane of the sensory neuron that causes the generation of APs which transmits info the the CNS

Question 7

How are sensory neurons activated?

Answer 7

By specific stimuli, each is sensitive to a particular form of physical energy

Question 8

What type of physical energy is vision stimulated by?

Answer 8

Light

Question 9

What type of physical energy is hearing stimulated by?

Answer 9

Air pressure (waves)

Question 10

What type of physical energy is balance stimulated by?

Answer 10

Head motion

Question 11

What type of physical energy is touch stimulated by?

Answer 11

Mechanical, thermal, etc.

Question 12

What types of information does the sensory system transmit to the CNS?

Answer 12

Modality of the stimuli (what), location of the stimuli (where), intensity of the stimuli (strength), and duration of the stimuli (time)

Question 13

What are the four types of motor related sensory systems?

Answer 13

Vision, vestibular (balance), cutaneous, and proprioception (muscle, tendon, and joint)

Question 14

What are the sensory neurons of the visual system?

Answer 14

Rods and cones

Question 15

How many sensory neurons are in the each eye?

Answer 15

125 million

Question 16

What do rods do?

Answer 16

Dim light

Question 17

What do cones do?

Answer 17

Focus on bright light and colors

Question 18

What do visual receptors do?

Answer 18

Turn light into electrical signals that pass along the optic nerve to the vision centers in the brain

Question 19

What does the vestibular system do?

Answer 19

Provide a sense of balance and head orientation

Question 20

What is the vestibular apparatus?

Answer 20

Semicircular canals

Question 21

How does the vestibular system function?

Answer 21

Hair cells detect movement of fluid

Question 22

What type of information do cutaneous receptors receive?

Answer 22

Temperature (thermoreceptors), pain (nocioreceptors), and pressure (merkel’s)

Question 23

How is sensitivity determined?

Answer 23

Based on the number of receptors in a particular area.

Question 24

Is sensitivity equal on all parts of the body?

Answer 24

No

Question 25

What is proprioception?

Answer 25

The ability to know where our body is in space

Question 26

Where are specialized receptors for proprioception located?

Answer 26

Muscles, tendons, and joints

Question 27

What are muscle spindles?

Answer 27

Muscle stretch receptors located intramuscularly that sense changes in muscle length. Firing rate increases with lengthening

Question 28

What are golgi tendon organs?

Answer 28

Receptors found in musculotendinous junctions that provides info regarding muscle tension (force.) Firing rate increases with greater tension

Question 29

What are joint receptors?

Answer 29

A number of different receptors located in the joint capsule that provide information about joint position at extreme positions

Question 30

What are the key sensory areas in the brain?

Answer 30

The occipital lobe (vision) and somatosensory cortex (touch/proprio)

Question 31

Each sense typically has a unique _____?

Answer 31

Sensory receptor

Question 32

Where are higher brain functions processed?

Answer 32

In the amygdala and hypocampus

Question 33

How much of the body’s energy does the brain use?

Answer 33

20%

Question 34

What type of functions are the deeper regions of the brain responsible for?

Answer 34

Simplistic and involuntary functions

Question 35

How has the brain evolved?

Answer 35

Inner brain is the oldest and most simple, outer brain is the newest and most complex

Question 36

What is synesthesia?

Answer 36

The mix of different senses

Question 37

Give an example of synesthesia.

Answer 37

When numbers become colors or words become flavors