Senses Flashcards
General senses
senses that have receptors all over the body
Somatic senses
provide information about the body and environment
Visceral senses
provide information about the organs
Special senses
sense that have specialized structures and are in specific places in the body
Mechanoreceptors
respond to mechanical stimuli
Chemoreceptors
respond to chemicals
Photoreceptors
respond to light
Nociceptors
respond to pain
General senses
touch, pressure, pain,temperature, vibration, itch, and proprioception
Free nerve endings
receptors for the general senses
Touch receptors
free nerve endings enclosed by capsules
Merkel disks
superficial nerve endings that detect light touch and pressure
hair follicle receptors
body hair receptors that respond to light touch
Meissner corpuscles
touch recpetors
Ruffini corpuscles
deeper tactile receptors and continous pressure
Pacinian corpuscles
deepest touch receptors of the tendons and joints also vibrations and body possition
Righting relfex
keeps our body upright
Superficial pain
receptors are localized
Deep pain
not localized receptors
Referred pain
pain that is felt in a different part of the body then where it is actually coming from
Olfactory anatomy
Olfactory neuron dendrites have cilia that odorants can attach to. A signal is sent from the neuron to the olfactory bulb then to the brain
Neural pathway for olfaction
Olfactory axons > olfactory bulb > interneurons > olfactory tracts > olfactory cortex in temporal and frontal lobes
Prolonged odorant exposure effects
Feedback loop stops sending signal
Taste buds
structures on the tongue’s papillae, pharynx, palate, and epiglottis that contain sensory receptors for tastes
Types of taste
sour, salty, bitter, sweet and umami
Taste bud anatomy
Taste pairs extend from the taste pore and connect to a taste cell. When activated the taste cell sends a signal down a nerve to the thalamus then the temporal lobe
Accessory Structures of the eye purpose
lubricate, protect and move eye
Eye accessory structures
eyebrows, eyelids, conjunctiva, lacrimal apparatus, and extrinsic eye muscles
Conjunctiva
mucous membrane covering the inner eyelids and the surface of the eye
Lacrimal apparatus
a gland in the the corner of the eye that produces tears
nasolacrimal duct
duct that leads from the lacrimal sac to the nasal cavity
Fibrous tunic
the outer layer of the eye made of sclera that attaches the eye to the muscles and the cornea that allows light in.
