Sem 2 Module 4 - Special Senses Flashcards
What cell is responsible for smell?
Olfactory
The olfactory epithelium can identify many primary sensations of smell
Where are the receptors of the olfactory cells located?
In the nasal epithelium lining of the nasal cavity, with the cell bodies of olfactory cells lying between supporting cells of the epithelium
What kind of receptor is olfactory cells?
Chemoreceptors - Which respond to chemical in water solution
- Water on the surface of the epithelium dissolves substances which are carried into the nose in air
In order to be smelled, what must a substance be capable of doing?
In order to be smelled, substances must be able to convert to a gaseous state in order to reach the nasal cavity in the first place, and also to be water soluble to stimulate olfactory cells
What do chemicals in solution bind to? and what happens?
Chemicals in solution may bind to protein receptors on olfactory cells,
This alters the permeability of the cell membrane.
With a rise in membrane potential
What happens if depolarization is sufficiently large?
- If depolarization is sufficiently large (threshold or greater) an action potential will be triggered
- Olfactory cells are very sensitive, in many cases responding to a few molecules of a substance.
- Axons leaving the olfactory cells penetrate the cribriform plate (ethmoid bone) of the skull.
- Their impulses are transmitted to other neurons the fibres of which travel to the brain in the olfactory nerve (CN I)
- Sensations of smell are experienced when impulses reach the olfactory cortex in the temporal bone
What cells are responsible for taste?
Gustatory cell
Where are the cells located that are responsible for taste?
Located in taste buds, mainly on the surface of the tongue, in the projections called papillae
Describe a taste bud.
Each taste bud is otherwise hollow, with a narrow opening to the surface, a taste pore
- From each gustatory cell within the taste bud extend fine projection (microvilli): these function as the actual taste receptors
What does stimulation of the gustatory cell require?
Stimulation of the gustatory cells requires substances to be in solution in saliva so they can enter taste pores
What else about taste buds?
- Associated with epithelial projections (Lingual papillae on superior surface of the tongue
What are three types of Lingual papillae?
Filiform papillae
Fungiform papillae
Circumvallate papillae
What do Filiform papillae do and contain?
Provide friction
Do not contain taste buds
What do fungiform papillae contain?
Contain five taste buds each
What do circumvallate papillae contain?
Contain 100 taste buds each
What are the four primary taste sensations?
Sweet - stimulated by sugars, saccharin
Sour - Stimulated by H+ (acids)
Salt - Stimulated by metallic salts, e.g. Na+, K+
Bitter - Stimulated by alkaloids, e.g. quinine, nicotine, morphine
Where are each taste detected on the tongue?
Tip —> Sweet, salty
Sides —> Sour
Back —-> Bitter
What are other additional human taste sensations?
Umami
- Characteristic of beef/chicken broths and parmesan cheese
- Receptors sensitive to amino acids, small peptides, and nucleotides
Water
- Detected by water receptors in the pharynx
What cranial nerves do taste receptors travel into the medulla in?
CN VII (Facial) CN IX (Glossopharyngeal)
Whilst a few taste buds in the epiglottis are conducted primary by CN X (Vagus)
and are relayed to the somatosensory (gustatory) cortex
- Fibres also project to the limbic system and hypothalamus
- The sense of taste and smell have combined effect when interpreted in the cerebral cortex: much of we taste is actually smelled.
What is the structure of the ear?
- The ear contains various structures involved in hearing and maintaining equilibrium
- It includes the
External (outer ear)
Middle ear and,
Internal /Inner ear - All these portion function in hearing, but the internal ear also helps maintain balance and equilibrium
What does the external ear contain?
- Pinna (auricle
- External auditory meatus (canal)
- Tympanic membrane (eardrum)
What kind of pressure is on the outside of the eardrum?
Atmospheric pressure
What does the middle ear contain?
Bones (ossicles) - malleus - Incus - Stapes Eustachian (auditory) tube
What is the air pressure on the inside of the ear?
Atmospheric pressure, as the air-filled cavity of the middle ear is connected through the Eustachian tube with the throat
What does the internal ear contain?
The components of the inner ear are located in the temporal bone
There are cochlea, vestibule, and the semicircular canals
These are all linked, and organised as series of interconnecting membranous tubes (membrane labyrinth), housed within bony tunnels (bony labyrinth)
The membranous labyrinth is filled with a fluid, endolymph: the space between the membranous labyrinth and the walls of the bony labyrinth is filled with perilymph
What is recall?
- Air in a compressible gas
- A vibrating object causes alternating compression and rarefaction: each compression causes a slight increase in pressure and each rarefaction causes a slight decrease in pressure
- A graphical representation of pressure against time gives a wave pattern, hence we speech of sound waves. The height of waves (amplitude) is detected as intensity or loudness
- The number of waves in any given time (frequency, expressed in Hertz) is detected as pitch
What do sound waves cause?
Sound waves cause the tympanic membrane to vibrate
- The malleus, incus and stapes transmit vibration from tympanic membrane to the membrane of the oval window
- Vibration of the membrane of the oval window sets up oscillations in the fluid within the cochlea (perilymph); these travel around the cochlea to the round window
- Oscillations in the perilymph cause vibration of the membranes in the cochlea (these form the cochlear part of the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear)
What is within the membranous tube of the cochlea?
Within the membranous tube of the cochlea is a membranous “sandwich” (the organ of Corti). The “filling” of this “sandwich” consist of hair cells, which are the actual auditory receptors; the top layer of the sandwich rests on the fine projections (hairs) of these cells
What kind of receptors are hair cells?
Thus, hair cells - auditory receptors - are in fact highly specialised mechanoreceptors