PSYC 210: Sensory Processing and Behavior

Question 1

Touch, audition, vision, smell, and taste have different modalities, but they are all processed as ____________ in the nervous system.

Answer 1

action potentials

Question 2

Sensory processing occurs in a ______________ organization.

Answer 2

hierarchical

Question 3

Receptor cells detect your sensory stimuli, then the sensory information goes to your sensory __________.

Answer 3

cortex

Question 4

Receptor cells may be widely distributed or in one place. For example, the somatosensory system has receptors expressed everywhere in your _________.

Answer 4

skin

Question 5

Receptor cells are not always neurons. For the somatosensory system, the receptor cells are ___________.

Answer 5

neurons

Question 6

Sensory information from the receptor neurons can bypass the brainstem and thalamus via the ____________.

Answer 6

olfactory bulb

Question 7

___________ projection refers to information detected on the corresponding side of your body.

Answer 7

ipsilateral

Question 8

__________ projection refers to information detected on the opposite side of your body.

Answer 8

contralateral

Question 9

The _____________ system information relays information about the body, such as touch and temperature.

Answer 9

somatosensory

Question 10

____________ allows you to know where your are, such as knowing you are sitting in a chair.

Answer 10

proprioception

Question 11

You feel heartburn, itch, and pain through the __________ system.

Answer 11

somatosensory

Question 12

___________ refers to itching, while __________ refers to pain.

Answer 12

proprioception, nociception

Question 13

Because each receptor cell sends a signal on a particular line, the brain knows what sort of _________ happened.

Answer 13

touch

Question 14

There are ___________ for distinctive sensory experiences meaning that different qualities of touch are detected by respective receptors and neurons to the brain.

Answer 14

labeled lines,

Question 15

Receptors _________ a physical stimulus into neural events.

Answer 15

transduce

Question 16

In the skin, each receptor has a __________ that responds to a specific attribute of the stimulus.

Answer 16

specialized ending

Question 17

The Pacinian corpuscle responds to deep ____________and rapid ____________.

Answer 17

pressure, vibrations

Question 18

Merkel’s disks respond to ___________.

Answer 18

light touch

Question 19

Ruffini endings respond to ___________, stretch, and __________.

Answer 19

pressure, warmth

Question 20

Meissner’s corpuscles respond to _________ and ___________.

Answer 20

touch, vibrations

Question 21

Merkel’s disc and Meissner’s corpuscle are at the ___________ of the skin, while Pacinian corpuscle and Ruffini corpuscle are at the _________ level of the skin.

Answer 21

surface, deeper

Question 22

Skin receptors are ___________.

Answer 22

mechanoreceptors

Question 23

Every sensory neuron has a _________ in which it is responsible for communication.

Answer 23

receptive field

Question 24

Each ________ or __________ detects stimuli from a part of the world and then relays and represents the information the brain.

Answer 24

sensory receptor, neuron

Question 25

The ______________ of a neuron is the area of the skin the neuron is responsible for.

Answer 25

receptive field

Question 26

___________ creates large receptive fields.

Answer 26

convergence

Question 27

Small receptive fields are found in more __________ areas.

Answer 27

sensitive

Question 28

convergence of primary neurons allows simultaneous subthreshold stimuli to sum at the ____________ sensory neuron and initiate an action potential.

Answer 28

secondary

Question 29

When fewer neurons converge, secondary receptive fields are much __________.

Answer 29

smaller

Question 30

Neuronal cell bodies are in the ____________.

Answer 30

dorsal root ganglion

Question 31

Your finger would have ___________ receptive fields because your somatosensory system in your finger needs to be very sensitive.

Answer 31

smaller

Question 32

The cell body of your primary sensory neuron is unique in that it is located in the dorsal root ganglion of your __________

Answer 32

spinal cord

Question 33

Information ascends _____________ in the dorsal columns to the medulla, where information crosses the midline and then to the _____________ cortex through the thalamus.

Answer 33

ipsilaterally, somatosensory

Question 34

Cell bodies of the ____________ somatosensory neurons are in the dorsal root ganglion along the spinal cord.

Answer 34

primary

Question 35

The ___________ the injury happens in the spinal cord, the more severe the impairment because information has to travel to get to the brain.

Answer 35

higher

Question 36

Each segment of your spinal cord is a ________ of your somatosensory system.

Answer 36

dermatome

Question 36

Sensory information goes through the dorsal root ganglion then enters the ____________.

Answer 36

dorsal columns

Question 37

each spinal segment innervates a surface area of the body

Answer 37

dermatome

Question 37

Information travels from the dorsal columns to the ____________, where action potentials of the primary sensory information are passed down to the ___________ sensory neurons.

Answer 37

medulla, second order

Question 38

The primary somatosensory cortex is just posterior to the ____________

Answer 38

central sulcus

Question 38

Information is projected ____________ from the second order sensory neurons in the medulla to the __________ where it is then sent to your ____________ somatosensory cortex.

Answer 38

contralaterally, thalamus, primary

Question 38

Somatosensory information is represented in the ___________ of the thalamus.

Answer 38

ventral posterolateral nucleus (VPL)

Question 39

__________ information is transmitted to the VPL (ventral posterolateral nucleus) and then to the primary somatosensory cortex.

Answer 39

touch

Question 40

The secondary somatosensory cortex is just an ___________ that also receives other sensory information such as vision.

Answer 40

association area

Question 41

The secondary somatosensory cortex has __________ neurons that receive sensory information.

Answer 41

polymodal

Question 42

Your somatosensory system contains receptors in not only your skin, but also your ____________

Answer 42

internal organs

Question 43

Somatosensory _________ refers to the fact that the somatosensory cortex is organized according to a map of the body surface.

Answer 43

homunculus

Question 44

_________ refers to the size of somatosensory representation changes with experience or deprivation.

Answer 44

neuroplasticity

Question 45

You can alleviate tinnitus through stimulating your _______ neuron.

Answer 45

taste