Neuroscience Somethesis Steven Youngentob Flashcards
To what kind of stimulus do slowly adapting mechanoreceptors respond?
Enduring
To what kind of stimulus do rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors respond?
At the onset and sometimes the termination of a long stimulus
What is one similarity between the two kinds of tactile receptors (slowly adapting and rapidly adapting)?
They are both more active at the beginning of a stimulus
Name this: the portion of the skin directly innervated by the receptor terminals and the area of adjacent tissue through which a stimulus can be conducted through the receptor.
The receptive field
Areas of the skin most sensitive to touch, ie fingers, have what large or small receptive fields?
Small, and the largest # of receptive fields per unit area.
What type of mechanoreceptor is a Merkel’s cell?
Slowly adapting
What type of mechanoreceptor is a Meissner’s corpuscle?
Rapidly adapting
What type of mechanoreceptor is a Pacinian corpuscle?
Rapidly adapting
What are the two major ascending systems carrying somatosensory information to the cerebral cortex?
- Dorsal column-lemniscal system
2. Anterolateral system
What is the main function of the dorsal column-lemniscal system?
To mediate tactile sensations including vibration sense and proprioception
What is the main function of the anterolateral system?
To carry information mostly about pain and temperature sensation
The tactile information transmitted by the _______ provides crude touch and pressure information, poo localizing ability on the body and little capacity for fine intensity discrimination.
Anterolateral system
- Sacral axons enter the spinal cord and are packed where?
2. The axons added at higher levels are packed at successively more _____ positions.
- Near the midline
2. Laterally
Is the cuneate fascicle more lateral or more midline in the spinal cord?
Lateral
Is the gracile fascicle more lateral or more midline in the spinal cord?
Midline
The dorsal column-lemniscus system has nerve fibers that enter the dorsal column and travel up what side of the body?
Ipsilateral to the ipsilateral side of the caudal medulla
What are the nuclei where dorsal nerves synapse and where are the nuclei located?
Gracile and cuneate nuclei, together called the dorsal column nuclei, in the caudal medulla
What is different about a second order receptive neuron, as compared with a regular receptor neuron?
The second-order receptive neuron has both excitatory and inhibitory regions
How does a receptive field become larger?
It receives more input from primary sensory neurons
T or F: Receptive fields have overlapping areas.
True
What is the medial lemniscus?
The bundle of fibers traveling from the dorsal column nuclei to the brain. They are delivering contralateral information from second order sensory neurons that have decussated upon entering the spinal column.
The fibers of the medial lemniscus synapse on the _____ of the thalamus.
ventral posterior nucleus
How many sections is the ventral posterior nucleus divided into? What are they called?
Two, the medial and lateral division.
The medial division of the ventral posterior nucleus received input from what?
Input from the face