Special Senses Flashcards
Ability to perceive stimuli.
Sense
Conscious awareness of stimuli received by sensory neurons.
Sensation
Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli by developing action potentials.
Sensory receptors
What are the 2 Types of Senses?
- General senses - receptors distributed over a large part of the body.
- Special senses - receptors localized within specific organs.
What are under the special senses? (5)
- Smell
- Taste
- Sight
- Hearing
- Balance
The General senses is divided into 2 parts. What are these?
- Somatic - located in skin, muscles, joints.
- Visceral - located in internal organs.
In General Senses,
What are under the somatic?
- Pressure
- Touch
- Proprioception
- Temperature
- Pain
In General Senses,
What are under the visceral?
- Pain
- Pressure
Receptors over large part of body that sense touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and itch.
General senses
It provide information about body and environment.
Somatic
It provide information about internal organs.
Visceral
It is composed of smell, taste, sight, hearing, and balance.
Special senses
What are the 5 types of receptors?
- Mechanoreceptors
- Chemoreceptors
- Photoreceptors
- Thermoreceptors
- Nociceptors
TYPES OF RECEPTORS
- From the word “mechano” - mechanical
- It detect movement
- Examples: touch, pressure, vibration
Mechanoreceptors
TYPES OF RECEPTORS
- From the word “chemo” - chemical.
- It detect chemicals
- Example: odors
Chemoreceptors
TYPES OF RECEPTORS
- It detect light
Photoreceptors
TYPES OF RECEPTORS
- It detect temperature changes.
Thermoreceptors
TYPES OF RECEPTORS
- It detect pain.
Nociceptors
What are the 5 Types of Touch Receptors?
- Merkel’s disk
- Hair follicle receptors
- Meissner corpuscle
- Ruffini corpuscle
- Pacinian corpuscle
TYPES OF TOUCH RECEPTORS
- It detect light touch and superficial pressure.
Merkel’s disk
TYPES OF TOUCH RECEPTORS
- It detect light touch.
Hair follicles receptors
TYPES OF TOUCH RECEPTORS
- Deep in epidermis
- Localizing tactile sensations
- Involved in fine, discriminative touch
Meissner corpuscle
TYPES OF TOUCH RECEPTORS
- Deep tactile receptors
- Detects continuous pressure in skin
Ruffini corpuscle
TYPES OF TOUCH RECEPTORS
- Deepest receptors
- Associated with tendons and joints
- Detect deep pressure, vibration, position
Pacinian corpuscle
Respond to painful stimuli, temperature, itch, or movement.
Free nerve endings
It is an unpleasant perceptual and emotional experiences.
Pain
Pain can be felt and perceived in different ways. What are the 2 way pain is perceived?
Localized or diffuse
This type of pain is felt in a specific, well-defined area of the body.
It is a sharp, pricking, and cutting pain. It is a rapid action potential.
Examples include a cut, a bruise, or toothache, where the pain is concentrated in one particular spot.
Localized
This type of pain is more generalized and spread over a larger area, making it harder to pinpoint exactly where it is coming from.
It is like a burning, aching pain. It is a slower action potential.
Examples include muscle soreness after exercise or fibromyalgia, where the pain is widespread and not limited to a particular location.
Diffuse
In Pain Control, there are two different methods used to prevent pain during medical procedures, but they vary significantly in how they work and where they are applied. What are these?
Local anesthesia and General anesthesia
This involves numbing a specific, small area of the body to block sensation in that region. The patient remains awake and conscious during the procedure.
- Action potentials suppressed from pain. Receptors in local areas. Chemicals are injected near sensory nerve.
Local anesthesia
It is used for major surgeries or procedures that would be too painful or complex for the patient to be awake. It renders the patient completely unconscious and unresponsive, inducing a deep sleep-like state so they feel no pain and are unaware of the procedure.
- Loss of consciousness. Chemicals affect after reticular formation.
General anesthesia
The ____________ is typically positioned at the head side of the patient during surgery for several important reasons related to airway management, monitoring, and control of the patient’s anesthesia.
anesthesiologist
It originates in a region that is not source of pain stimulus. It is felt when internal organs are damaged or inflamed. Sensory neurons from superficial area and neurons of source pain converge onto same ascending neurons of spinal cord.
Example:
- Heart Attack: Pain from a heart attack is often felt in areas like the left shoulder, arm, neck, or jaw, rather than directly in the chest.
Referred pain
It is the Cranial Nerve I which is the sense of smell. It occurs in response to odorants. Receptors are located in nasal cavity and hard palate. We can detect 10,000 different smells.
Olfaction
Arrange the step by step of the Olfaction Process.
A. Nasal cavity contains a thin film of mucous where odors become dissolved.
B. Dendrites pick up odor, depolarize, and carry odor to axons in Olfactory bulb (cranial nerve I).
C. Frontal and temporal lobes process odor.
D. Olfactory neurons are located in mucous. Dendrites of olfactory neurons are enlarged and contain cilia.
A → D → B → C
This is the sensory structures that detect taste. It is located on papillae on tongue, hard palate, and throat.
Taste buds
Note: Inside each taste buds are 40 taste cells. Each taste cells has taste hair that extend into Taste pores
What is taste buds, taste cells, and taste hairs?
- Taste Buds are the structures that house taste cells.
- Taste Cells are the individual sensory cells that detect taste stimuli and send signals to the brain.
- Taste Hairs (microvilli) are tiny extensions on the taste cells that help capture taste molecules from food.
The tongue is divided into two main regions. What are these?
Anterior and Posterior sections
The anterior portion of the tongue refers to the front __________ of the tongue.
two-thirds or 2/3
The posterior portion of the tongue refers to the back _________ of the tongue.
one-third or 1/3
This is the actual V-shaped groove located just behind the circumvallate papillae. It marks the boundary between the anterior and posterior regions of the tongue but does not itself contain any taste buds or papillae.
Sulcus Terminalis
These are the large, dome-shaped structures that house taste buds and are responsible for detecting bitter tastes. There are typically 7 to 12 circumvallate papillae arranged in a V-shape at the back of the tongue. These are what people often refer to as the “12 circles.”
Circumvallate Papillae
This are mushroom-shaped structures located mainly on the tip and sides of the tongue. They are involved in detecting sweet, salty, and umami tastes, and they also play a role in sensing temperature and texture.
Fungiform papillae
This are leaf-shaped structures found on the sides of the posterior tongue, responsible for detecting sour and bitter tastes.
Their activity is more pronounced in children and decreases with age. It diminishes when we turn 3 years old.
Foliate papillae
This are the most numerous type of papillae on the tongue, but unlike other papillae, they do not contain taste buds. Instead, they serve other important functions related to increase surface texture and sensation.
Filiform papillae
TASTE PROCESS
[Familiarize only!]
- Taste buds pick up taste and send it to taste cells.
- Taste cells send taste to taste hairs.
- Taste hairs contain receptors that initiate an action potential which is carried to parietal lobe.
- Brain processes taste.
What are the 5 types of tastes?
- Sweet
- Sour
- Salty
- Bitter
- Umami
Certain taste buds are more _______ to certain tastes.
sensitive
Taste is also linked to what sense?
smell
It is a complex set of brain structures that play a key role in regulating emotions, memory, behavior, and certain physiological functions like motivation and the body’s response to stress. It is sometimes referred to as the “emotional brain” because it is heavily involved in emotional processing.
Limbic System
It is a branch of the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII) that plays an important role in taste sensation and the regulation of salivary glands. It carries taste information from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue and also provides parasympathetic innervation to the submandibular and sublingual salivary glands.
Chorda tympani
The organs of hearing and balance are located in the ________.
Ears
The ear is divided into 3 areas. What are these?
- The external ear
- The middle ear
- The inner ear
This is the area of the ear that extends from outside of head to eardrum.
The External Ear
The External Ear has 3 parts. What are these?
- Auricle
- External auditory canal (meatus)
- Tympanic membrane
This is the fleshy part of the ear (outside).
It’s function is to collecting the sound waves.
Auricle
This is the canal that leads to eardrum.
Important for the pathway of the sound waves.
External auditory canal or External auditory meatus
In layman’s terms, it is called “eardrum”. This is the thin membrane that separates external and middle ear.
Tympanic membrane
In layman’s terms, it is called “earwax”. It is accumulated or produced by ceruminous glands at the external auditory canal for protection.
Cerumen
Cerumen is produced by what?
ceruminous glands
Commonly known as swimmer’s ear, is an infection or inflammation of the outer ear canal, the tube that runs from the outer ear to the eardrum. It is typically caused by bacterial or fungal infections, often triggered by prolonged moisture in the ear, which creates an environment favorable for microbial growth.
Otitis externa
The eardrum (Tympanic Membrane) can be __________, which is a hole or tear in the eardrum (tympanic membrane), which separates the outer ear from the middle ear.
This happens when the eardrum bursts.
perforated
When the eardrum or tympanic membrane burst, will it affect your hearing?
Yes
Note: Tympanic membrane can regenerate but it can be fibrous or it will lessen your capacity to hear.
What are the 3 auditory ossicles?
- Malleus (hammer)
- Incus (anvil)
- Stapes (stirrup)
Note: They are also the 3 smallest bones and they are important in conducting sound waves from tympanic membrane to oval window.
This is the area of the ear that is air filled chamber with ossicles.
The Middle Ear
The Malleus, Incus, and Stapes are the ossicles and at the same time the ________ bones.
smallest
What is the other name or layman’s term for Malleus?
Hammer
What is the other name or layman’s term for Incus?
Anvil
What is the other name or layman’s term for Stapes?
Stirrup
It is the bone attached to Tympanic membrane.
Malleus (hammer)