Test #3 Flashcards
To Pass My Class
Adequate Stimulus
The type of stimulus to which a sensory organ is particularly adapted. ie: photic energy for the eye
Sensory Systems
restricted range of responsiveness
Doctrine of specific nerve energies
Receptors and neural channels for different senses are independent.
Doctrine of specific nerve energies
Each sense uses a different “nerve energy”
Labeled Lines
the brain recognizes distinct senses because action potentials travel along separate nerve tracts.
Sensory Transduction
the conversion of electrical energy from a stimulus into a change in membrane potential in a receptor cell.
Receptor potentials
a local change in membrane potential
Pacinian Corpuscle
is a skin receptor that detects vibration and prodcues a graded electrical potential.
Coding
patterns of action potentials in a sensory system that reflect a stimulus.
Range Fractionation
Takes place when different cells have a different threshold for firing, over a range of stimulus intensities
Somatosensory
detects body sensation
Adaptation
the progressive loss of response to a maintained stimulus
Tonic Receptors
Shows slow or no decline in action potential frequency
Phasic Receptors
display adaptation and decrease frequency of action potentials
Suppression
Accessory structures, such as eyelids
Top Down Processing
higher brain centers suppress some sensory inputs and amplify others
Pathway
pass through the regions of the thalamus and terminate the cerebral cortex
Receptive Field
the space in which a stimulus will alter a neurons firing rate.
Secondary sensory cortex
Receives its main input from the primary cortical area for that modality.
Primary Somatosensory Cortex
receives touch information from the opposite side of the body.
Secondary somatosensory cortex
maps both sides of the body in registered overlay
Attention
a state or condition of selective awareness or perceptual receptivity, by which specific stimuli are selected for enhanced processing
Polymodal
cells allow for intersensory interactions
Synesthesia
a condition which a stimulus in one modality creates a sensation in another
