Sensory Systems Flashcards

1
Q

Describe somatosensory.

A

Bodily sensation of touch, pain, temperature, vibration, and proprioception.

Received from sensory receptors in skin, joints, ligaments, muscle and fascia. It detects changes in the environment or within the body.

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2
Q

What are the 5 different types of cutaneous mechanoreceptors?

A
  1. Free nerve endings
  2. Merkel cells
  3. Meissner corpuscles
  4. Ruffini endings
  5. Pacinian corpuscles
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3
Q

What do free nerve endings convey? What type of receptor fields do they have?

A

Temperature, pain, crude touch.

Have small or large receptor fields.

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4
Q

What do merkel cells convey? What type of receptor fields?

A

Light touch (shape and texture)

Small receptor fields

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5
Q

What do meissner corpuscles convey? What type of receptor fields?

A

Light touch (motion detection and grip control by responding to very low frequency vibrations)

Small receptor fields

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6
Q

What do ruffini endings convey? What type of receptor fields?

A
  1. Stretching of skin = helps provide secondary info, like proprioception.
  2. Vibration and pressure

Large receptor fields

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7
Q

What do pacinian corpuscles convey? What type of receptor fields?

A

Vibration and pressure = big scale vibration/pressure movements; gross movements

Large receptor fields

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8
Q

What is proprioception? What 3 types of receptors detect it?

A

The sense of joint/limb position in space.

  1. Muscle spindles
  2. Golgi tendon organs
  3. Joint receptors
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9
Q

Describe a muscle spindle and what 2 responses they can trigger.

A

A muscle spindle is composed of intrafusal fibers. They detect the rate and degree of a muscle stretch.

Responses:

  1. Muscle contraction
  2. Antagonist inhibition (crucial for the myotactic reflex)
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10
Q

Describe Golgi tendon organs. What 2 responses do they trigger?

A

Located near the muscle-tendon junction.
Monitors tension within tendons for proper grading of muscle contractions and force needed.

Responses:

  1. Muscle relaxation (“autogenic inhibition”)
  2. Inhibit muscle spindles

**Exception: golgi tendon organs can trigger contraction right before a muscle is passively stretched.

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11
Q

Describe joint receptors. What other important receptors are included with the joint receptors?

A

Monitors stretch in synovial joints. It sends info to cerebellum and spinal reflex arcs.

Other receptors:

  1. Pacinian = AROM and compression
  2. Ruffini = indicate end-range and PROM
  3. Free nerve endings = pain from joint inflammation; non-noxious stress (pressure, temperature, vibration)
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12
Q

Describe A alpha (type 1) axon.

A

Myelinated with biggest fiber diameter

Receptors = muscle spindles and golgi tendon organ

Sensory modalities = proprioception

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13
Q

Describe A beta (type 2) axon.

A

Myelinated

Receptors = muscle spindles, meissner corpuscle, merkel receptor, pacinian corpuscle, ruffini ending, hair receptor.

Sensory modalities = proprioception, superficial touch, deep touch/vibration, touch/vibration

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14
Q

Describe A delta (toye 3) axon.

A

Myelinated

Receptors = free nerve ending

Sensory modalities = Pain, cool temperature, and itch

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15
Q

Describe C (type 4) axon.

A

Not myelinated with smallest diameter and slowest conduction

Receptors = free nerve endings

Sensory modalities = pain, warm temperature, and itch

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16
Q

Where do the dorsal and ventral rami carry information from?

A

Dorsal rami = back of body

Ventral rami = ventral trunk and limbs

17
Q

When does the spinal nerve form? What kind of information is carried in the dorsal and ventral spinal nerves?

A

Spinal nerve forms after the rami.

They bifurcate into different fibers:

  • all sensory input goes to dorsal root
  • all motor output comes from the ventral root.
18
Q

What is within the dorsal root ganglions?

A

Location where the cell bodies lie.

*everything proximal to the ganglion is considered part of the CNS.

19
Q

What are dermatomes?

A

Area of skin with sensory innervation by a single dorsal spinal root.

20
Q

What are cutaneous peripheral nerves?

A

They supply an area of the skin that is related to a peripheral nerve.

*can contain fibers from several spinal nerve roots.

21
Q

What is the general pathway for the somatosensory system?

A

Cutaneous/muscle receptor –> PNS –> dorsal horn –> white matter tracts –> thalamus –> postcentral gyrus

22
Q

What column does light touch, proprioception, and vibration travel?

A

Dorsal column

23
Q

What column does pain, temperature, pressure, and crude touch travel?

A

Anterolateral column

24
Q

Describe the function of the thalamus.

A

A crucial relay structure for all afferent pathways traveling to the cortex.

25
Q

What are the 3 relay nuclei?

A
  1. Medial nuclear group
  2. Lateral nuclear group
  3. Anterior nuclear group
26
Q

What is the internal medullary lamina?

A

Contains intralaminar nuclei that project to multiple cortical locations.

*receives input from RAS

27
Q

What is the responsibility of the thalamic reticular nucleus?

A

It is in charge of thalamic integration. It does NOT project to cortex.

28
Q

Where does the ventral posterior lateral nucleus (VPL) relay info to?

A

Sends somatosensory from the spinal cord to the primary sensory cortex.

29
Q

Where does the ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) relay info to?

A

Sends somatosensory from cranial nerves to the primary sensory cortex.

30
Q

Where does the ventral lateral nucleus (VL) relay info to?

A

Sends information from the cerebellum and basal ganglia to the primary motor cortex and association motor cortices.

31
Q

Where does the ventral anterior nucleus (VA) relay information from and to?

A

Sends information from the cerebellum and basal ganglion to the primary motor cortex, association motor cortices, and other frontal lobe structures.

32
Q

Where does the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) relay information?

A

Sends vision to primary visual cortex.

33
Q

Where does the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) relay information?

A

Sends auditory to primary auditory cortex.

34
Q

Where does the mediodorsal nucleus (MD)? relay info from?

A

Sends information from the limbic and basal ganglia to the frontal cortex.

35
Q

Where does the anterior nucleus relay info from?

A

Sends information from the mamillary body and hippocampus to the cingulate gyrus.