Sensory One

Question 1

What is the function of a sensory system?

Answer 1

• Detect and convey information about the internal (proprioception) and external environment.(Auditory sense)
• Leads to conscious awareness of environment and events

Question 2

Are all sensory receptors the same?

Answer 2

No they are specialized to what they are detecting

Question 3

What is the process a change in the environment must undergo within the body to be registered?

Answer 3

Signal (detection)
Collection (all receptors- grade magnitude)
Transduction
Processing (1 and 2ary areas)
Response

Question 4

What do sensory receptors provide information about?

Answer 4

Sensory receptors and associated nerve pathways provide information about:

• Amount of stimulation (intensity)
• Duration
• Location

Question 5

What happens to the information recorded by the receptors before it is sent to the brain?

Answer 5

It is encoded before being sent along neural pathways and processed.

Question 6

Where are the possible processing centers for neural information in the body?

Answer 6

Spinal cord
Brain stem
Thalamus
Cerebral cortex

Question 7

What properties do all receptors share?

Answer 7

• Require a physical stimulus
• Events transform stimulus into nerve impulses
• Responses to signals gives rise to perception or experience of sensation

Question 8

Does the encoding of information differ across receptors?

Answer 8

No, coding is very similar across receptors

Question 9

How common are sensory disorders?

Answer 9

42% of New Zealanders have non-correctable sensory losses

Question 10

How many sensory system attributes are there?

Answer 10

Four

Question 11

What are the sensory system attributes?

Answer 11

All convey common information that can be quantitatively correlated to sensation

• Modality (type) : Class of stimulus
• Location : Position of stimulus in space
• Intensity : Measure of severity or amount of stimulus
• Timing : Onset, duration and offset of stimulus

Question 12

What is unique about receptors when the stimulus is constant?>

Answer 12

They can adapt and stop firing.

Question 13

How is modality encoded in specific neural responses?

Answer 13

• Sensory receptors transform signal into electrical energy (transduction)
• Excitation leads to electrical response or receptor potential
• Receptors morphologically specialized for specific forms of energy
• Specificity of response underlies that idea that neurons from receptors are modality specific. “labelled line”

Question 14

What are the classes of receptors in humans?

Answer 14

Mechanoreceptors - Mechanical deformation detected
Chemoreceptors - Detect chemicals
Thermoreceptors - Detect heat change
Photoreceptors - Detect light

Question 15

Are transduction mechanisms the same for all receptors?

Answer 15

No they vary depending on the receptor/ physical sitmulus. i.e

Mechanoreceptors - use changes in cell structure
Chemoreceptors - Use secondary messangers or detect the chemical directly
Photoreceptors - Use intracellular secondary messangers

Each receptors responds to narrow range of stimuli

Question 16

What does the spatial arrangement of receptors allow?

Answer 16

Spatial arrangement of receptors:

• Provides information on the location of stimulus source on the body or in space
• Enables discrimination of size and shape of object
• Enables resolution of fine detail of stimulus or environment
• Spatial arrangement is receptive field.