The Other Senses

Question 1

Touch

Answer 1

• skin, our largest sensory system, detects mechanical energy
• sensory cells are spread out inside the layers of the skin, detecting light touch pressure, pain, cold, and warmth
• signals received by the somesthetic receptors are sent along the spinal cord to the brain stem
• the fibers from each side of the body cross over and move to the thalamus, then to the somatosensory cortex at the front of the parietal lobe

Question 2

Pain

Answer 2

serves as a warning system for damage and danger, helping us survive

Question 3

Nociceptors

Answer 3

all over the body to respond to mechanical, heat, chemical, and other types of pain

Question 4

pain receptors

Answer 4

respond to physical or chemical stimuli that distort or irritate them into action

Question 5

prostaglandins

Answer 5

sore joints produce prostaglandins which stimulate the receptors but can be reduced by drugs like aspirin

Question 6

pain info

Answer 6

information brought to the brain from nerve endings in the skin by two different systems

Question 7

Fast pain pathways

Answer 7

fast pathways register localized pain and send the information to the cortex in a fraction of a second (receiving a shot)

Question 8

Slow pain pathways

Answer 8

send information through the limbic system which takes about 1-2 seconds longer (ex.- aching)

Question 9

endorphins’ role in pain signals

Answer 9

neuroscientists believe endorphins are involved in turning pain signals on and off

Question 10

Gate Control Theory

Answer 10

• pain signals must pass through a “gate” in the spinal cord which filters what the brain receives
• large nerve fibers send fast signals that inhibit pain by closing the gate
• small nerve fibers send slower signals which open the gate
• since large nerve fiber activity is increased by touch, massage, and movement, it can close the gate on pain sent through small fibers
• fails to explain phantom and chronic pain

Question 11

Pain perception

Answer 11

• research shows that our brains can regulate, control, determine, and even produce pain
• our expectation about how much something will hurt, our mood, and personality affect our perception and tolerance of pain

Question 12

Chemical Senses

Answer 12

• taste and smell process chemicals in the environment
• these senses are stimulated simultaneously and work together, helping us identify safe food, dangerous situations, and potential mates

Question 13

Smell

Answer 13

• Airborne molecules enter the nasal passage and reach the receptor cells in the upper nasal passage
• these receptors send messages to the brain’s olfactory bulb, then to the smell cortex in the temporal lobes

Question 14

Taste

Answer 14

-Your tongue has 10,000 papillae(taste buds), which are replaced every two weeks
- taste is complicated, incorporating different combinations of sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami

Question 15

Kinesthesia

Answer 15

• allows you to touch your nose and type
• sensory receptors embedded in our muscles and joints signal their state
• A limb that “falls asleep” is a temporary failure of your kinesthesia sense for that structure

Question 16

The Vestibular Sense

Answer 16

• works with kinesthesia to coordinate proprioceptive feedback about the position of our body parts in relation to other body parts
• the semicircular canals in the inner ear are fluid-filled tubes that lie in three planes; left-right, front-back, and up-down
• as you move, the fluid flows in different directions at different speeds, signaling the position of your body and heard

Question 17

sensory interaction

Answer 17

• the principle that all our senses influence each other
• when the sensory input disagrees our brain reconciles the discrepancy by blending or adding, or filtering out problematic

Question 18

Embodied cognition

Answer 18

• the idea that our brains combine information from multiple sources
• the brain is part of the perceptual process rather than the master
• perceptual modeling and sensory memory help interpret environmental cues

Question 19

Synesthesia

Answer 19

• a neurological condition in which stimulation of our sensory pathway leads to sensory experiences in a second pathway
• people may hear a color or feel a taste