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Perception > Topic 11: The Cutaneous Senses > Flashcards

Topic 11: The Cutaneous Senses Flashcards

1
Q

Why are conditions that result in losing the ability to feel things dangerous?

A

Absence of the warning signals provided by touch and pain.

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2
Q

What makes it difficult to interact with the environment with the loss of an ability to feel things?

A

Loss of feedback

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3
Q

Sense of our body’s position and the movement of our
limbs

A

Proprioception

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4
Q

Describe the case of Ian Waterman

A

Suffered complications from a viral infection that damaged sensory neurons from his neck down

As a result, he was completely unable to sense the position of his limbs and also lost the sense of touch

Couldn’t feel his body; used inappropriate amounts of force

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5
Q

Ability to perceive sensations based on the stimulation of receptors in the skin

A

Cutaneous senses

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6
Q

Enables us to perceive the properties of surfaces including details, texture, and shape

A

Sense of touch

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7
Q

Heaviest organ in humans, and one of the largest by
total surface area

A

Skin

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8
Q

Describe the role of skin in maintaining regular bodily functions

A

Gives us information about the external environment, prevents body fluids from escaping, and protects us by keeping bacteria, chemical agents, and dirt from getting inside

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9
Q

What are the two different kinds of human skin?

A

Hairy skin: Hair follicles
Glabrous skin: No hair follicles

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10
Q

Where is glabrous skin found?

A

Areas most sensitive to touch and the parts we use to explore our environment (Palms, feet, lips, tongue)

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11
Q

Outer layer of dead skin cells

A

Epidermis

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12
Q

Receptors that respond to mechanical stimulation of the skin

A

Mechanoreceptors

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13
Q

Where are the mechanoreceptors located?

A

In the epidermis and dermis

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14
Q

Which two mechanoreceptors are located close to the surface of the skin?

A

Merkel receptors

Meissner corpuscles

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15
Q

Merkel receptors and Meissner corpuscles have — receptive fields

A

Small

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16
Q

Describe the firing and adaptation of Merkel receptors

A

Fires continuously, as long as the stimulus remains present

It adapts slowly to stimulation, so it is a slowly-adapting fiber (SA1)

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17
Q

Merkel rceptors are associated with the perception of…

A

Fine details, texture, and shape

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18
Q

Describe the firing and adaptation of Meissner corpuscles

A

Fires only when the stimulus is first applied, and again when it is removed

Adapts rapidly to stimulation, so it is a rapidly-adapting fiber (RA1)

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19
Q

Meissner corpuscles are associated with…

A

Perceiving motion across the skin

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20
Q

What are the two mechanoreceptors located deeper in the skin?

A

Ruffini cylinders

Pacinian corpuscles

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21
Q

Ruffini cylinders and Pacinian corpuscles have — receptive fields then mechanoreceptors located closer to the surface of the skin

A

Larger

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22
Q

Describe the firing and adaptation of Ruffini cylinders

A

Fire continuously, as long as the stimulus remains present

Adapts slowly to stimulation, so it is also a slowly-adapting fiber (SA2)

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23
Q

Ruffini cylinders are associated with…

A

The perception of skin stretching

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24
Q

Describe the firing and adaptation of Pacinian corpuscles

A

Fire only when the stimulus is first applied, and again when
it is removed

Adapts rapidly to stimulation, so it is also a rapidly-adapting fiber (RA2)

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25
Q

Pacinian corpuscles are associated with…

A

Perceiving vibrations and fine texture

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26
Q

Why is the somatosensory system unique compared to the other sensory systems?

A

Sensory receptors are distributed throughout the body

Signals need to travel long distances to reach the brain

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27
Q

Brings signals from all over the body from the skin to the brain

A

Spinal cord

28
Q

How many segments does the spinal cord have?

A

31

29
Q

Bundle of fibers through which the segments of the spinal cord receive signals

A

Dorsal roots

30
Q

What are the two major pathways through which signals are sent to the brain after they enter the spinal cord?

A

The medial lemniscal pathway

The spinothalamic pathway

31
Q

Carries signals for
proprioception, pressure
and fine touch

A

Medial lemniscal

32
Q

Carries signals about pain,
irritation, itchiness, and
temperature

A

Spinothalamic

33
Q

Describe the pathway of signals from the mechanoreceptors to the brain

A

Signals travel through one of the two spinal cord pathways

Signals pass through the thalamus

End at the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex (S1)

34
Q

How is S1 organized?

A

A map that corresponds to to the different locations of the body (homunculus)

35
Q

Which portion of S1 is associated with sensations on the lips and face?

A

Lower portion

36
Q

Which portion of S1 is associated with sensations on the hands and feet?

A

Higher portion

37
Q

Which areas of the body correspond to disproportionately large sections in S1?

A

Areas that we typically use to explore the environment (hands, tongue, feet, etc.)

38
Q

How can perceiving details be studied?

A

Tactile acuity

39
Q

The smallest amount of detail that can be detected on the skin

A

Tactile acuity

40
Q

Tactile acuity differs based on…

A

Location and type of skin

41
Q

Describe the typical results of a two-point threshold (sensitivity) test

A

Glabrous skin = detect 2 points until about 3mm apart

Hairy skin = only detect 2 points until about 2-5cm
apart

42
Q

Test of tactile acuity in which the narrowest spacing possible to detect is identified

A

Grating acuity

43
Q

Test of tactile acuity involving identifying shapes and
patterns in the absence of
visual cues

A

Shape perception

44
Q

What are three tests of tactile acuity?

A

Two-point threshold (sensitivity) test

Grating acuity

Shape perception

45
Q

How do mechanoreceptors relate to perceiving detail?

A

Firing pattern closely correlates to the details on the surface

46
Q

Which mechanoreceptor is associated with the perception of fine details?

A

Merkel receptors

47
Q

Parts of the body sensitive to detail are likely to have more —

A

Merkel receptors

48
Q

Describe the relationship between the brain and the size of the receptive
fields on the skin

A

The smaller the receptive field, the better the detail acuity

49
Q

Explain how smaller receptive fields lead to the perception of more details

A

When two points are hit in an area with small receptive fields, the two points would hit different fields whereas when this happens in an area with large receptive fields, two points would only hit the same field (overlapping point in the brain)

50
Q

Which mechanoreceptors respond best to vibrations?

A

Pacinian corpuscles

51
Q

Explain how Pacinian corpuscles respond to vibrations

A

The corpuscles contain many layers with fluid in between

Constant pressure moves the fluid only once and therefore the neuron only fires once, but vibrations cause the fluid to constantly move causing the neuron to keep firing

52
Q

The physical, tactile surface of an object created by its peaks and valleys

A

Surface texture

53
Q

Theory describing that our perception of a texture depends on spatial and temporal cues

A

Duplex theory of texture perception

54
Q

Provided by large surface elements, like bumps and grooves, that can be felt when the skin is resting on a surface

A

Spatial cues

55
Q

Provide information through vibrations and only occur when one moves across a surface

A

Temporal cues

56
Q

Spatial = perception of —
textures, temporal = perception of — textures

A

Course, fine

57
Q

How do different textures get represented differently in our brains?

A

Each texture seemingly causes a unique pattern of neurons to fire

58
Q

Touch in which a person is actively exploring an object, typically by using the fingers
and hands for humans

A

Active touch

59
Q

Occurs when touch stimuli are applied to the skin,
and the person simply “receives” it

A

Passive touch

60
Q

Perceptual process in which three-dimensional objects are explored

A

Haptic perception

61
Q

List the systems involved in haptic perception and their roles

A

Somatosensory system – detecting touch, temperature, texture, etc.

Motor system – moving your hands and fingers

Visual system – perceiving the visual details of the object

Cognition – thinking about the meaning of all this information

62
Q

How long does it take people to accurately identify most common objects?

A

1-2 seconds

63
Q

How do people accomplish object identification?

A

Through the use of exploratory procedures that differ depending on the quality they are trying to judge

64
Q

Give six examples of exploratory procedures

A

Lateral motion
Pressure
Enclosure
Contour following
Static contact
Unsupported holding

65
Q

Deficits in tactile perception and detail perception by touch resulting from damage to S1

A

Weakened stereognosis

66
Q

The complete inability to recognize objects by touch alone resulting from damage to S1

A

Astereognosis

Perception (10 decks)

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