SPECIAL SENSES Flashcards
1
Q
Sight
A
- visual system interprets what we see
- necessary to recognising shapes, colours, letters, words and numbers
- important in reading body language and nonverbal cues during social interactions
- guides our movements
- sight or vision is the capability of the eyes to focus and detect images of visible light and generate electivas nerve impulses for varying colours, hues and brightness
- visual perception is how the brain processes these impulses - recognising, differentiating and interpreting visual stimuli through comparison
2
Q
Smell
A
- ability to detect scent —> chemical, odour molecules in the air
- olfactory system begins with our nose (hundred of olfactory receptors)
- odour molecules possess a variety of features and thus, excite specific receptors more or less strongly
- chemical nature of odorant important, may be chemotopic map in brain
3
Q
Taste
A
- taste and smell are very closely linked
- taste or gestation refers to capability to detect the taste of substances (food etc)
- sense of taste often confused with sense of flavour —> combination of taste and smell perception
- humans receive taste organs through sensory organs called taste buds concentrated on the upper surface of the tongue
- 5 basic tastes: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, savoury (umami)
4
Q
hearing
A
- use our auditory system to identify quality, direction of sound
- hearing or audition is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations, changes in the pressure of the surrounding medium
- auditory processing relies on how the brain interprets, recognises and differentiates sound stimuli
5
Q
Touch
A
- tactile system refers to the awareness of touch through receptors in skins
- 2 levels: discrimination to tell us where the touch is on our body, tell us whether it is a safe or dangerous touch
- touch or somatosensory is a perception resulting from activation of neural receptors (usually in skin)
- somatosensory system is a diverse sensory system that is spread through all major parts of our body
- system works when activity in a sensory receptor triggered by a specific stimulus, signal eventually passes to an area in the brain uniquely attributed to that area on the body and allows the processes stimulus to be felt at the correct location
6
Q
Vestibular
A
- contributes to balance and our sense where our body is in space
- provides the most input about movement in the body
- vestibular system explains the perception of our body in relation to gravity, movement and balance
- measures acceleration, g-force, body movements and head position
7
Q
Propioception
A
- perception of sensation of the muscles and joints enabling the brain to know where each part of the body is and how it is moving
- developed by the nervous system as a means to keep track of and control different parts of the body, using feedback from movements of joints and muscles
- sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement
- sense is very important as it lets us know where our body parts are
8
Q
Opt/i; opt/o; optic/o; ophthalm/o
A
Eye
9
Q
Phac/o; phack/o
A
Lens
10
Q
Retin/o
A
Retina
11
Q
lacrim/o
A
Lacrimal duct
12
Q
Blephar/o
A
Eye lid
13
Q
Iris/o; ir/o
A
Iris
14
Q
Scler/o
A
Sclera
15
Q
Conjunctiv
A
Conjunctiva
16
Q
Corne/o; kerat/o
A
Cornea
17
Q
Cataract
A
Loss of transparency
