Nov. 10

Question 1

sensation

Answer 1

brain’s interpretation or perception of the environment

Question 2

categories of senses

Answer 2

special and somatic

Question 3

Special senses include

Answer 3

HE'S TV
hearing
equilibrium
smell
taste
vision

Question 4

Somatic senses include

Answer 4

TPTP
touch
pain
temperature
proprioception

Question 5

proprioception

Answer 5

sensation of one’s own body

Question 6

physiology of sensation forms the

Answer 6

neural basis of sensory signaling processing, transduction and processing

Question 7

transduction is carried out by

Answer 7

sensory organs

Question 8

processing is carried out by

Answer 8

CNS

Question 9

Role of sensory organs

Answer 9

convert some form of energy into electrical signals/ convert physical and chemical attributes of stimulus into electrical signals

Question 10

example of:

i) specialized sensory organ
ii) simple sensory organ

Answer 10

i) retina

ii) sensory nerve terminals for touch

Question 11

Trace sensory stimulus to sensation

Answer 11

SPAC
Sensory stimuli
Potential change of sensory receptor membrane
AP firing by sensory neurons, which project to
CNS for integration/processing

Question 12

sensory receptors cells can be

Answer 12

nerve terminals or specialized cells

Question 13

General pathway of a sensory system

Answer 13

SPeCTaCular 
Sensory receptor
Primary sensory neuron
CNS
Thalamus 
Cortex

Question 14

types of stimuli

Answer 14

TECM
thermal
electromagnetic
chemical
mechanical

Question 15

photoreceptors may refer to

Answer 15

photoreceptor molecules or photoreceptor cells

Question 16

sensory receptors convert stimuli into

Answer 16

receptor potentials

Question 17

receptor potentials

Answer 17

electrical signals in the form of graded potentials which photoreceptors convert from stimuli

Question 18

do sensory receptor cells fire action potentials?

Answer 18

only some, such as taste and olfactory receptor cells.

photoreceptors don’t

Question 19

olfactory receptor cells are also called

Answer 19

olfactory neurons, since they, like some other receptor cells are neuronal in nature

Question 20

taste cells are ________ cells

Answer 20

epithelial

Question 21

How do receptors that do not fire AP’s encode messages?

Answer 21

amplitude of receptor potential is a form of coding, but is still eventually converted into AP firing before message enters CNS

Question 22

In the visual system, AP firing begins with the

Answer 22

third relay station of signal transduction

Question 23

hair cells are used for

Answer 23

balance and hearing

Question 24

thermoreceptor function

Answer 24

respond to temp change, mediate temp sensation, mediate nociceptive (pain) stimulation

Question 25

chemoreceptor function

Answer 25

nociceptive stimulation, taste, olfaction

Question 26

modality of stimulus

Answer 26

light, chemical, temperature, etc

Question 27

sub-modalities

Answer 27

taste: sweet, bitter, acid, salty, umami
vision: color vision

Question 28

four characteristics of sensory stimuli that must be distinguished

Answer 28

1. modality
2. intensity
3. location
4. timing

Question 29

how do sensory receptors and sensory receptor cells encode modality?

Answer 29

depends on:
type of receptor activated
labeled line coding (which neuronal pathways are stimulated)

Question 30

threshold for photoreceptors

Answer 30

one photon

Question 31

adequate stimulus

Answer 31

the one the receptor is designed for (light for photoreceptors)

Question 32

why does a punch cause one to perceive light

Answer 32

punch probably activates mechanosensitive channels in photoreceptor cells which produces the same membrane potential as the adequate stimulus would (does not activate rhodopsin)

Question 33

why do chillipeppers cause you to feel heat?

Answer 33

capsasin activates both taste receptor cells and nerve endings which produce thermal sensation

Question 34

for sensation, reaching threshold means:

Answer 34

the stimulus must be great enough to activate enough neurons in order for their convergence to be large enough for the brain to detect

Question 35

another example of a tuning curve exemplified by cochlear cells

Answer 35

frequency versus stimulus magnitude: the lower the magnitude needed for a response at a certain frequency, the more sensitive the cell to said frequency

Question 36

tuning curve concept applied to taste cells

Answer 36

taste cell responds best to particular molecule or class of molecules, but is still able to bind some other chemicals with similar structure

Question 37

How is intensity encoded?

Answer 37

1. the more receptors activated, the bigger the receptor potential
2. when receptor potential is transduced into AP, the frequency and number of AP’s

Question 38

How is timing encoded?

Answer 38

Different ways:

1. continuously firing APs during stimulus
2. receptor cells can respond only when stimulus is turned on or turned off

Question 39

tonic receptors/receptor cells

Answer 39

fire AP’s continuously during stimulus

Question 40

another word for tonic receptors/receptor cells

Answer 40

slowly adapting

Question 41

absolute refractory period in tonic receptor cells might be

Answer 41

less than 1 ms (for cells firing AP’s up to 1 kHZ, i.e. 1 AP per ms)

Question 42

phasing receptor cells

Answer 42

only respond transiently to stimulus (when turned on or off)

Question 43

phasing receptor cells are also called

Answer 43

fast adapting receptor cells

Question 44

How is location encoded?

Answer 44

Depends on which receptors are activated

ex. diffnt visual stimuli stimulate diffnt parts of retina

Question 45

location of sound determined by

Answer 45

comparing signal perceived by the two ears