Sensory System Lecture 10

Question 1

types of sensory receptors

Answer 1

• mechanoreceptors
• thermoreceptors
• noicerecptors
• photoreceptors
• chemorecptors

function is transduction

Question 2

5 senses

Answer 2

smell, touch. vision, hearing, taste

Question 3

sensory transduction

Answer 3

is converision of stimulus energy into a receptor potential

receptor potential: exceeds threshold it can generate an action potential

Question 4

two types of sensory receptor cells

Answer 4

• specialized structure ending of a neuron

- separate cell that influences a neuron.

Question 5

modaility

Answer 5

energy from a stimulus

Question 6

properties of sensory receptors are

Answer 6

• receptive fields
• receptor adaptation
• lateral inhibition

Question 7

receptor adpation

Answer 7

adapts to stimulus and response declines over time)
- decreases the perception of a stimulus that you dont need to perceive anymore

ex) your brain doesn’t need to constantly be aware that your wearing clothes so adapts and you dont feel the clothes on your skin anymore

Question 8

receptive fields

Answer 8

area in which the sensory cell is activated, these can vary in size depending on the cell location of the body.

( tell your brain where the stimulus was.

Question 9

lateral inhibition

Answer 9

allows us to perceive well- defined sensations at a single location—> sharpens perceptions (greater Activity)

Question 10

how does the brain interpret incoming sensory infomstion

Answer 10

brain receives 3 types of information

• stimulus type
• frequency coding
• population coding

Question 11

Stimulus coding

Answer 11

incoming sensory information is brought to specific portions of the cortex (the regions that are activated provides the CNS w information about stimulus type

Question 12

frequency coding

Answer 12

provides the CNS regarding stimulus intensity

• larger stimulus= more frequent action potentials

Question 13

population coding

Answer 13

also provides stimulus intensity info

- a strong stimulus will be sensed by multiple sensory cells

Question 14

5 main sensory modalities

Answer 14

1. somatosensory
2. hearing
3. taste
4. smell
5. vision

Question 15

somatosensory system

Answer 15

is involved with body sensations such as touch, body part location ( propriception), temperature and pain

Question 16

mechanoreptors in the skin

Answer 16

respond to pressure,

• ion channels open when the cell membrane changes its shape.
• Na+ comes in and depolarizes the cell

Question 17

why do we have 4 different types of touch receptors

Answer 17

receptors

mechanoreceptors, kinesthetic/proprioception, thermoreceptors, nociceptors

Question 18

thermorceptors

Answer 18

cation channels that open in response to temperature

- ion channel located on the free nerve ending

Question 19

Nociceptors

Answer 19

respond to a wide variety of noxious stimuli

- interpret stimulus as pain (free nerve endings)

Question 20

Muscle Spindle Receptors

Answer 20

stretch receptors (mechanoreceptors) within the body of a muscle that primarily detect changes in the length of the muscle. 
- play an important role in regulating the contraction of muscles