Somatosensation (Exam 1) Flashcards
what is superficial sensation?
- Exteroreceptors: received information from the environment through the skin and subcutaneous tissue
What is deep sensation?
Proprioceptors: receive stimuli from muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints & fascia
What is cortical sensation?
- Combination of superficial and deep sensory mechanisms
- Require information from exteroreceptors and proprioceptors as well as intact function of the cortical sensory association areas
What sensations make up our primary somatosensory?
- Superficial Sensation
- Deep Sensation
- Includes touch, pain, temperature, vibration & proprioception
What is included in cortical sensation?
- Grapesthesia, stereognosis & tactile extinction
What is grapesthesia?
Ability to sense letter, number or symbol drawn into hand or body without seeing it
What is stereognosis?
Perception of the sense of the object
What is tactile extinction?
- Seen in neglect of one side
- One side over powers the other one, when you are touching both sides the individual can only feel one side
If sensory loss due to injury of a peripheral nerve occurs what will be seen?
- Follow distribution for that specific nerve
- Impact all sensory modalities
What is a dermatome?
Area of skin innervated by a dorsal nerve root
How will a lesion to a single nerve root present as?
Diminished not absent sensation
What type of fibers result in greater cortical representation?
Higher density which are more distal
What are mechanoreceptors?
Respond to mechanical deformation of the receptor by touch, pressure, stretch or vibration
- Deep receptors: proprioception, tendon tension
What are thermoreceptors?
Respond to heat or cold
What are nociceptors?
Sensitive to stimuli that damage or threaten to damage tissue
What do Ia, Ib axons target?
- Muscle spindle
- Golgi Tendon Organ
What do II axon target?
- Muscle spindle
-Merkel’s receptor, Meissner’s Corpuscle - Pacinian Corpuscle, Ruffini ending, hair receptor
What do III & IV axon target?
Free (bare) nerve endings
What are the sensory receptors for proprioception?
Muscle spindle
Golgi Organ Tendon
What are the sensory receptors for pressure, vibration, & fine touch?
- Merkel’s receptor
- Meissner’s Corpuscle
- Pacinian Corpuscle
- Ruffini ending
- hair receptor
What are the sensory receptor for pain, temperature and touch?
Free (bare) nerve endings
What axon type conveys the modality of pain, temperature (COOL) and itch?
III
What axon type conveys the modality of pain, temperature (WARM) and itch?
IV
What is the order of axon diameter from largest to small?
- Ia
- Ib
- II or A beta
- III or A delta
- IV or C
What is the general anatomic arrangement for a first order neuron?
Action potential in sensory receptors are triggered
- From sensory receptors (skin & musculoskeletal) to spinal cord
What is the general anatomic arrangement for a second order neuron?
Spinal cord to thalamus
What is the general anatomic arrangement for a third order neuron?
From thalamus to cerebral cortex
Where are somatosensory first order neurons located?
Dorsal root ganglion
What is afferent neuron has distal axon conducts signal from receptor to cell body and proximal axon conducts signal from cell body to spinal cord?
Pseudounipolar
What does the dorsal column- medial lemniscal pathway convey?
-Proprioception, Vibration & fine discriminative touch
- Conscious
What does the anterolateral pathway convey?
- Pain, temp sense & crude touch
- Conscious
What does spinocerebellar pathways convey?
- Information from proprioceptors & interneurons to cerebellum
- Unconscious
Conscious Somatosensory Pathway first order neuron includes?
- Sensory neuron
- Cell body in dorsal root ganglion
Conscious Somatosensory Pathway what occurs during the second order neuron?
- Synapse with 1st order neuron in spinal cord or brainstem
- Crosses
- Carries info to thalamus
Conscious Somatosensory Pathway: What occurs during 3rd order neuron?
Carries information from thalamus to cortex
Describe the axons involved in Dorsal column- medial lemniscal pathway?
- Large diameter, myelinated axons
- Ia, Ib, II
Dorsal Column - Medial Lemniscal Pathway: 1st order neuron
Where is the cell body located?
Where do the axons enter spinal cord?
- Dorsal root ganglion
- Via the dorsal root
Dorsal Column - Medial Lemniscal Pathway: 1st order neuron
When axons enter the spinal cord where do go from there?
- Enter ipsilateral dorsal column and ascend to medulla via either Fasciculus gracilis or cuneatus
When is fasciculus gracilis used?
Sensory information comes from LE & trunk
When is fasciculus cuneatus used?
Upper trunk (T6), arms & neck