Senses Flashcards
What are the 8 senses mentioned in class?
1) sight
2) hearing
3) touch
4) taste
5) smell
6) temp
7) proprioception (knowing where the body parts are without looking)
8) pain
What is proprioception?
Sense of where body parts are without looking
What are the 5 types of sensory receptors mentioned in class?
1) mechanoreceptors
2) thermoreceptors
3) photoreceptors
4) chemoreceptors
5) nociceptors
What do mechanorecptors respond to?
Mechanical stimuli (stretch, bend, pressure, vibration)
What do thermoreceptors respond to?
Heat
What do photoreceptors respond to?
Light
What do chemoreceptors respond to?
Smell, taste, concentration
What do nociceptors respond to?
Pain (can be polymodal, in other words can be responding to more than one stimulus such as temp, chemicals, or mechanical)
What is adaptation of receptors?
Neurons stop responding to constant stimuli
Ex: fast adapting- odor; slow adapting- pain or stretching
What is acute pain?
Short and sharp pain (stubbing your toe)
What is chronic pain?
Dull ache, longer-lasting
What is referred pain?
Pain from one part of the body that is different from the actual problem (left arm= heart attack)
What is phantom pain?
Pain of where a limb used to be, or pain in the phantom limb.
What is Endogenous analgesia?
Pain relief that your body provides
What are the 5 tastes?
1) salt
2) sweet
3) sour
4) bitter
5) umami
What substance does the salty taste respond to?
Na+
Needed for action potential; lost through sweat, urine
What does the sweet taste react to?
Sucrose and look alikes
What does the sour taste react to?
H+ or pH test
What does the bitter taste react to?
A variety of compounds that can indicate poison in the body (almonds/HCN)
What does the umami taste react to?
Glutamates found in meat and cheese
MSG- Monosodium Glutamate
Describe the location of the tympanum and its function
It is located in the middle ear right after the external auditory canal, it is kind of like a speaker that magnifies vibrations from the air and sends them to the rest of the middle ear.
Describe the malleus and what it’s function is
The malleus is a hammer shaped bone that is attached to the tympanic membrane and it sends the vibrations from the tympanum to the incus
Describe the Incus and its function
The incus is a small bone in the middle ear that is attached to the malleus and the stapes. It send vibrations from the malleus to the stapes
Describe the stapes and its function
A small bone in the middle ear that looks like a stirrup, it sends vibrations from the incus to the oval window
Describe the oval window and its function
A membrane between the middle ear and the inner ear. Sends vibrations from the middle ear to the inner ear
Describe the cochlea and its function
A snail shaped organ in the inner ear that contains fluid and lined with hair cells. Vibrations from the oval window jiggle the fluid, the fluid then bends the hair cells and opens up K+ channels allowing K+ into the cell, the cell depolarizers & fires the signal
Describe the utricle and saccule and its function
The organ between the coches and the semicircular canals. Senses when the head tilts
Describe the function of the semicircular canals
The semicircular canals sense rotation of the head.
Sound is actually moving through the air. How does your ear tranduce those vibrations into an electro-chemical signal?
When the hair cells in your inner ear are bent K+ channels open and K+ flows into the hair cells. Structures that are involved include Otoliths, cupulas, and the cochlea
What is a hair cell and how does it generate a nerve signal?
Little tiny hairs in the inner ear. They send a nerve signal when they are bent. When they are bent, potassium channels open and potassium flows into the cell causing the nerve to fire.
Your inner ear helps with proprioception including forward and backward acceleration, rotation, and whether your head is hanging forward or back. In what anatomical structures do you create these sensations?
The utricle and saccule (Vestiblue) and the semicircular canals
When your head hangs down, why does it feel like it’s hanging down? When you walk forward, why do you feel like you’re walking forward?
The otoliths in your vestibule, move when you are moving, but when you stop they continue moving for a split second. This moves the jelly which moves the hair cells and fires the nerves. (Works by inertia)
When you spin in a circle, why do you feel like you’re spinning? If you spin a lot, then stop, why do you feel like you’re still spinning?
The fluid in the cupulas of the semicircular canals spins when you’re spinning which fires the nerves in the hair cells. If you stop suddenly then the fluid keeps spinning which is what causes dizziness.
What is the conjunctiva?
The very outer layer of the eye
What is the sclera?
The whites of the eye
What is the cornea?
The clear cover over seeing part of the eye
What is the iris?
Colored part of the eye, muscles that controls the pupil
What is the retina?
Layer of photosensitive cells at the back of the eye, detect color and light using RODS & CONES
What is the pupil?
The hole in the eye that allows light to pass through
Name the retina’s two types of photosensitive cells. How do they differ in function, location, and light sensitivity?
1) Rods- low light, peripheral, black and white
2) Cones- straight on, high light, color
What is your blind spot and why do you have one?
Your blind spot is the portion of your eye where there are no rods or cones. You cannot see anything there, because there is an optic nerve in the way.
What is binocular vision? Why is it important to have?
It is the vision that most predatory animals have. Involves not only straight on vision but also peripheral vision.
What is grey matter and where do you find it in the brain and spine?
The outer layer or cerebral cortex of the brain, grey matter is also found on the inside of the spine.
Why is the surface of your brain wrinkled?
Wrinkles boost surface area
What is a sulcus?
A groove in the brain
What is a gyrus?
A ridge on the brain
