Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Neuroscience > The Senses > Flashcards

The Senses Flashcards

1
Q

What is transduction?

A

The process where receptors will convert sensory information into neural signals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is the sensory process?

A
  1. Sensory organs collect the signal
  2. Sensory receptors convert the energy of the stimuli into neural signals
  3. The signal is transmitted to sensory brain areas
  4. The brain processes the signal
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Where does transduction begin?

A

At the sensory receptor

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

How are sensory systems specialised?

A

To detect environmental stimuli

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is the step of receptor potentials?

A

Between the arrival of energy at the receptor cell and the initiation of an action potential

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What does the thalamus do?

A

Relays sensory impulses from receptors to various parts of the body to the cerebral cortex

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What does the pupil do?

A

Allows an opening for light to reach the retina

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What does the iris do?

A

Vary the size of the pupil

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is the pupil and iris covered by?

A

Cornea

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is the optic nerve?

A

A nerve that carries axons from the retina, exits the back of the eye and passes through the orbit to reach the brain

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is the optic disk?

A

Where the optic nerve exits the retina

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Why can’t the sensation of light occur at the optic disk?

A

Lack of photoreceptors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What happens when the eye captures light?

A

It focuses it on the visual receptors?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What do photoreceptors do?

A

Convert light energy into neural impulses which are sent to the brain

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What does photoreceptors influence?

A

The membrane potential of bipolar cells

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What are the two types of photoreceptors?

A

Rods and cones

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What are the four types of neurones in the retina?

A

Ganglion cell, bipolar cell, amacrine cell, horizontal cell

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What do ganglion cells do?

A

Fire action potentials to propagate to the optic nerve and then to the brain

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What do amacrine cells do?

A

Input from bipolar cells and influence ganglion, bipolar and other amacrine cells

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What do horizontal cells do?

A

Receive input from photoreceptors to influence bipolar cells and photoreceptors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What are the layers of the retina?

A

Photoreceptor layer, the intermediate layer, the ganglion cell layer

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What vision does the rods and cones provide?

A

Rods- grey scale and cones- colour

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What happens in the photoreceptor layer?

A

Phototransduction

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What occurs when there is darkness in the photoreceptor layer?

A

The Na+ ion channel open from cGMP and the photoreceptor is depolarised from the influx of sodium which creates a dark current

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What does the dark current from phototransduction lead to?

A

A continuous release of glutamate

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

What is light absorb by in phototransduction?

A

A pigment in the rods and cones, rhodopsin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

What happens when there is light in the photoreceptor layer during phototransduction?

A

The photopigment changes shape, G-proteins are activated from the exchange of GTP for GDP which activates PDE. cGMP is removed and the NA+ channels to signal to decrease glutamate release

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

What occurs in the intermediate layer of the retina?

A

Bipolar, amacrine and horizontal cells will transfer information from rods and cones to retinal ganglion cells

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

What cell is the output from the retina?

A

Ganglion cells in the ganglion cell layer which fire action potentials to reach the visual brain areas

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

What is the vision pathway?

A

Eye, retina, lateral geniculate nucleus, primary visual cortex (V1), secondary visual cortex

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

What is the lateral geniculate nucleus a part of?

A

The thalamus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

What does the lateral geniculate nucleus do?

A

A primary centre for the processing of visual information and receives feedback from the cortex and the eye

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

What is the primary function of the primary visual cortex?

A

To process visual information

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

What does the primary visual cortex project to?

A

Higher visual areas in the cortex

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

What does the primary visual cortex compute?

A

Orientation, spatial frequency, motion,
colour, depth

36
Q

What organisation does the primary visual cortex have?

A

Topographic

37
Q

What does secondary cortical areas do?

A

Feed forward and feedback connections to the primary visual cortex

38
Q

What is somatosensation responsible for?

A

Perceiving and interpreting various sensations related to the body’s physical state and the external environment such as touch and pain

39
Q

What are the 4 receptors for touch?

A

Merkel cells, Meissner’s corpuscles, Pacinian corpuscles, Ruffini endings

40
Q

What do Merkel cells process?

A

Light, touch and shape

41
Q

What do Meissner’s corpscules process?

A

Light, touch and low frequency vibrations

42
Q

What do Pacinian corpuscles process?

A

Deep pressure and high frequency vibrations

43
Q

What do Ruffini endings process?

A

Skin stretch and pressure

44
Q

Which mechanoreceptors have large receptive fields?

A

Pacinian corpscules and Ruffini’s endings

45
Q

Which mechanoreceptors have small receptive fields?

A

Meissner’s corpscule and Merkel cells

46
Q

Which mechanoreceptors are rapidly adapting?

A

Meissner’s corpscule and Pacinian corpscule

47
Q

Which mechanoreceptors are slow adapting?

A

Merkel cells and Ruffini’s endings

48
Q

What are receptive fields

A

Region of space in which a sensory receptor responds to a stimulus

49
Q

What do different parts of the body have?

A

Different numbers of receptors and different receptive fields

50
Q

High density of mechanoreceptors=?

A

Smaller and numerous receptive fields and fine tactile discrimation

51
Q

Low density of mechanoreceptors=?

A

Large and less densely packed receptive fields with less precise touch discrimination

52
Q

What is a dermatome?

A

Area of skin that is mainly supplied by a single spinal nerve

53
Q

What is the touch pathway?

A

Mechanoreceptors, dorsal column, thalamus, primary somatosensory cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex, associative areas (parietal lobe)

54
Q

What is somatotopic organisation?

A

When each part of the skin surface is represented by a specific region of the somatosensory cortex

55
Q

What does a homunculus show?

A

Represents the body based on proportion of the brain areas dedicated to processing tactile signals (Mouth and tongue being large due to taste perhaps)

56
Q

What is pain defined as?

A

“Unpleasant sensory or emotional experience
associated with actual or potential tissue damage”

57
Q

How is pain detected?

A

Nociceptors

58
Q

What are the two types of nociceptors?

A

A fiber and C fiber

59
Q

What is the characteristics and what does A fiber transmit?

A

Transmits sharp prickly pain
Thin, myelinated and fast

60
Q

What is the characteristics and what does C fiber transmit?

A

Dull aching pain
Thin unmyelinated slow

61
Q

What is the pain pathway?

A

Nociceptors on the skin, dorsal column, thalamus, primary somatosensory cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex, anterior cingulate+insula+amygdala

62
Q

What does the somatosensory cortex S1 and S2 do?

A

Mediates the perception of location, intensity and quality of the painful stimuli

63
Q

What does the amygdala. anterior cingulate cortex and the insular cortex do in the pain pathway?

A

Mediate the perception of fear, anxiety and unpleasantness associated with painful stimuli

64
Q

What are waves produced by sound characterised by?

A

Frequency and amplitude

65
Q

What is frequency?

A

The speed of the vibration

66
Q

What happens to the pitch when there is a shorter wavelength cycle?

A

A higher pitch

67
Q

What happens to the pitch when there is a longer wavelength cycle?

A

A lower pitch

68
Q

What does amplitude mean?

A

The size of the vibrations

69
Q

What does the greater amplitude correspond to?

A

A louder sound

70
Q

What does a lower amplitude correspond to?

A

A softer sound

71
Q

What occurs when there are vibrations from sound waves?

A
  1. The hair cells of the stereocilia bend
  2. Ca+ channels open for calcium to flow and vesicles release neurotransmitters
  3. An action potential is generated
  4. Hair cells convert mechanical energy into action potential
  5. The action potential is transmitted to the brain via the auditory nerve
72
Q

What is the hearing pathway?

A

Cochlea, cochlear nerve, olivary nucleus in the brainstem, inferior colliculus, median geniculate nucleus in the thalamus, auditory cortex

73
Q

Where is sound processsed?

A

In the primary auditory cortex

74
Q

Where is the primary auditory cortex?

A

In the superior temporal lobe

75
Q

How is the primary auditory cortex organised?

A

Tonotopically where different frequencies are represented in different locations

76
Q

Where are complex features of sound processed?

A

In higher auditory areas

77
Q

What is the vestibular system important for?

A

Balance, movement, gaze orientation, angular acceleration

78
Q

What is angular acceleration?

A

Head rotation

79
Q

What are semi-circular canals?

A

A component of the vestibular labyrinth filled with a jelly like liquid

80
Q

What is the semi-circular canals continuous with?

A

The cochlea

81
Q

What happens when there is movement of the head?

A
  1. Liquid moves
  2. Liquid bends the vestibular hair cells
  3. The bending of the vestibular hair causes a generation of action potentials
82
Q

What do otolith organs (otoliths) sense?

A

Linear acceleration

83
Q

What do otoliths consist of?

A

Hair cells in a jelly like substance and covered with heavy calcium carbonate crystals

84
Q

What occurs during linear acceleration?

A

The crystals pull the jelly like substance down, so the stereocilia bends and depolarisation occurs

85
Q

What is the vestibular pathway?

A

Vestibular receptors, brainstem, cerebellum, thalamus, vestibular areas

86
Q

What does the vestibular network include?

A

Somatosensory cortex, premotor cortex, anterior insula, posterior parietal cortex, temporoparietal junction, hippocampus

Neuroscience (10 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions