The Sensory and Motor Systems Flashcards
The sense of touch is a part of what larger sense?
Somatosensation.
What does the vestibular system do?
Provides a sense of balance and position in space.
What is the sense of proprioception?
Tells you the location and position of your bones, joints, and muscles.
What is sensory transduction?
The process of translating light, sound, or pressure to electrochemical signals.
What does a sensory receptor do?
Detects and transduces a specific stimulus of a sensory system(most sensory system have one).
Which two things can sensory receptors do when they’re activated by their stimulus?
They either fire an action potential or release chemical neurotransmitter, causing the next neuron to fire an action potential.
Where can the stimulus be detected by a sensory receptor?
The receptive field.
Why can’t sensory receptors fire an action potential for all possible stimuli?
The stimuli do not activate the receptors enough to create an electrochemical signal.
When do you become aware of a stimulus?
When sensory information has traveled all the way up to your cerebral cortex.
In what way are motor systems different from sensory systems?
The neural signal travels in the opposite direction.
Voluntary movement involves cells from which region of the brain?
The cerebral cortex, sending the signal down the spinal cord and to the peripheral nervous system.
In what part of the eye does the transduction of light into an electrochemical signal take place?
On the inner surface of the back of the eye, in the retina.
What is the front, transparent layer of the eye called?
The cornea.
Where does refraction of light take place?
The cornea.
What part of the eye is altered or shaved down in Lasik eye surgery?
The cornea.
What is the colored part of the eye?
The iris.
What is the little hole in which light enters the eye?
The pupil.
What is the many-layered, clear structure behind the cornea?
The crystalline lens.
What does the crystalline lens do when light passes through it?
It further refracts light to focus the image on the retina.
A lack of flexibility in the lens causes what?
Farsightedness.
Most types of farsightedness are caused by what two reasons?
The image focusing behind the retina due to inflexibility, or because the distance from the cornea to the retina is too short.
What is myopia?
Nearsightedness.
What causes nearsightedness?
When the distance from the retina to the cornea is too long and the focus falls in front of the retina.
