Unit 2 Sensory and Integrative Nervous System Flashcards
Transduction
the conversion of stimulus energy into an electrical signal
Adaptation
decreased sensitivity to continuous stimuli
tonic receptors
adapt slowly if at all; pain is sensed with tonic receptors; when the stimulus is applied, the receptor potential is on; when the stimulus is removed, the recereceptor potential is off
phasic receptors
adapt quickly; touch is sensed with phasic receptors; when the stimulus is applied, the receptor potential signals at the beginning; when the stimulus is removed, the receptor potential signals at the
Modality-
correctly interpreting electrical signals in the brain; what is perceived has to do with the part of the brain that is stimulated; the brain knows what is sensed based on the location of the signal
Intensity-
stronger stimuli elicit stronger responses
frequency coding-
more frequent action potentials on a given sensory neuron
population coding-
more receptors activated/more sensory neurons recruited
exteroreceptors-
sense the external environment
enteroreceptors-
sense the internal environment
proprioreceptors-
sense the relationship between self and the environment
photoreceptors-
detect light
chemoreceptors-
detect chemicals
mechanoreceptors-
detect pressure, movement, sound to name a few
thermoreceptors-
detect temperature
cutaneous senses-
detect touch/pressure, cold, warmth, pain
visceral senses-
sense the internal environment; chemicals, pain, temperature, pressure
special senses-
vision, smell, taste, hearing, rotational/linear acceleration (balance)
Cutaneous Senses
Touch, pain, cold, and warmth are sensed with naked nerve endings. All are histologically identical but physiologically distinct.
naked nerve ending-
can be positioned between skin cells or wrapped around the base of hairs
expanded tips on nerve endings-
Ruffini endings, Merkel’s disks; slowly adapting (tonic)
encapsulated endings
- cells ore extracellular material surrounding the receptor; Meissner’s corpuscles, Pacinian corpuscles, Krause’s corpuscles; rapidly adapting (phasic)
In Pacinian corpuscles
mechanical distortion causes the opening of Na+ channels. Stronger stimuli open more channels and recruit more receptors.
In Pacinian corpuscles
mechanical distortion causes the opening of Na+ channels. Stronger stimuli open more channels and recruit more receptors.
Touch receptors are most abundant on the fingers and lips but are scarce on
the trunk
Two major types of pain
Fast Pain and Slow Pain
Fast Pain
felt within 0.1 sec of stimulus
sharp, localized sensation immediately after stimulus
mostly cutaneous; cut, burn, electric shock
felt as sharp, prickling, acute, electric pain
Slow Pain
felt after 1 sec or more or stimulus
dull, intense, diffuse, unpleasant feeling (after initial wave of pain)
“can lead to prolonged, unbearable suffering” (from text)
can be cutaneous or visceral; tissue destruction
felt as slow burning, aching, throbbing, nauseous, chronic pain
There are three types of stimuli
mechanical, thermal, and chemical
Fast pain results from
mechanical and thermal pain, while all three types of stimuli cause slow pain.
Chemical pain is the result of
substances often released by damaged cells exciting receptors. Examples of these substances are bradykinin, serotonin, histamine, K+, H+, acetylcholine, and proteolytic enzymes.
Pain receptors do no adapt but instead
exhibit progressive increased sensitivity called hyperalgesia, especially with slow pain.
Prostaglandins and substance P function
nhance pain receptor sensitivity.
Aspirin inhibits
prostaglandins, which is part of its analgesic effect.
There are two types of temperature receptors
cold and warm
Cold receptors response range
8 to 43C
warm receptors response range
30 to 50C
adaptation temperature range
20 to 40 C
Normal Body Temperature
37 C
Tissue damage occurs and cold/warmth becomes pain at what temperatures
below 8C and above 50C
Temperature center in the body
Hypothalamus
Visceral pain is often referred to as a
somatic structure (ex. Heart pain is felt in the Left arm)
Common Visceral Receptors
Stretch and chemical receptors
baroreceptors-
walls of great elastic arteries, which are responsible for short-term regulation of blood pressure (Stretch Receptor)
walls of atria-
responsible for long term regulation of blood pressure (Stretch receptor)
alveoli of lungs-
Herring-Breuer Reflex to regulate respirations; this isn’t that important in humans (Stretch Receptor)
stomach-
gastrocholic reflex; causes contractions in the large intestine and regulates hunger (Stretch receptor)
colon-
primary stimulus for defecation (Stretch Receptor)
urinary bladder-
primary stimulus for urination (Stretch Receptor)
arterial PO2 (Chemoreceptor)-
walls of great elastic arteries; limited importance
H+/CO2 in medulla oblongata (Chemoreceptor)
pH of cerebrospinal fluid; important for regulation of respiration
osmotic pressure of plasma (Chemoreceptor)-
hypothalamus; water and salt balance
arteriovenous blood differences in glucose (Chemoreceptor)-
hypothalamus; regulates appetite
protein/lipid/H+ in small intestine (Chemoreceptor)-
enterogastric reflex; regulates stomach activity
NUmber of taste buds and location
10,000 taste buds on the upper surface of the tongue in fungiform and vallate papillae.
Fungifom Papillae are found
on the tip of the tongue , and there are
Vallate Papillae are found
at the back of the tongue, and there are ≤100 taste buds per papillae
Taste receptors are modified
Epithelial cells
In each taste bud, there are ___receptor cells and supporting cells that will become receptors. They are arranged like slices of an orange in the taste bud.
50
Microvilli from receptor cells are sticking out of the taste pore and in contact with mucous in which
food particles are dissolved.
five taste modalities:
bitter, sweet, sour, salt, and umami
Umami
Japanese for delicous, the associated chemical is L-Glutamate which is a savory taste (meat, aging cheese, soy)
Perceived taste depends on
the combination and degree of receptors stimualted similar to perception of color
Taste Blindness Chemical
phenyl-thiocarbamide
Frequency of Taste Blindness
15-30% of people can’t taste this chemical (phenyl-thiocarbamide)
Sour Taste Threshold (HCl)
0.0009 M
Salt Taste Threshold (NaCl)
0.01 M
Sweet Taste Threshold (Sucrose)
0.01 M
Bitter Taste Threshold (Quinine)
0.000008 M
Bitter may be a warning of
Dangerous chemicals since many toxins are bitter. The lowest threshold is for bitter and most are alkaloids and long-chain organics containing nitrogen
50% of taste adaptation occurs in the
Central nervous system
Sensory neurons for the anterior 2/3 of the tongue travel in
Cranial Nerve VII (facial nerve)
neurons for the posterior 1/3 of the tongue travel in
Cranial Nerve IX (glossopharyngeal nerve
Cells involved in smell
Olfactory Cells
Sustenacular Cells
Bowman’s Glands
Bowman’s Glands function
Mucous secretion
Olfactory cells
receptors; humans have about 100,000,000; neurons are replaced every 1-2 months (the only neurons in the human body that divide)
Sustenacular Cells
receptor precursors
Process of Smell
odorants bind to cilia of olfactory cells . The olfactory cells depolarize in response to the odorants. Olfactory cells penetrate the ethmoid bone and synapse at the olfactory bulb. The Olfactory Nerve (Cranial Nerve I) carries signals from there to the cerebrum and limbic systems
Ear is divided into three parts:
Inner, Middle, Outer
Outer and middle ear are
air-filled tunnels that direct and amplify sound waves
The inner ear
is fluid-filled and is the location of receptors for hearing and equilibrium
The outer ear consists of
Pinna, ear canal, and ear drum (tympanic membrane). The eardrum vibrates when struck with sound waves
Middle Ear
Cavity between the eardrum and the inner ear. It opens into the nasopharynx via eustachian tube. The tube is normally closed, but opening allows for pressure equalization
The main function of the middle ear
Transmit sound waves as vibrations to the inner ear
Three bones in the middle ear
Malleus, incus, and stapes
Malleus is next to the eardrum, the stapes is attached to the oval window (Beginning of inner ear), and the incus is between the malleus and the stapes.
Vibrations on the eardrum move the bones which result in vibrations on the oval window
with 20x amplification and faithful frequency
Inner ear modalities
Hearing and equilibrium
Hearing is detected with the
cochlea, which is innervated by the auditory nerve
Equilibrium is detected by the
vestibular apparatus, which is innervated by the vestibular nerve.
The auditory and vestibular nerves join to form the
Vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII), Sensory only
CN VIII
Vestibulocochlear nerve is routed through the medulla, then thalamus, and finally the auditory cortex of the cerebrum. Receptors in both modalities are hair cells, which are irreplaceable.
scala vestibuli
upper chamber filled with perilymph, connected to the oval window, communicates with the scala tympani via helicotrema
scala tympani-
lower chamber filled with perilymph, connected to the round window
scala media-
middle chamber filled with endolymph
Inner ear
Contains a canal within a canal. Outer canal is bony labrynth , channels within the temporal bone that are filled with fluid called perilymph.
Outer Canal of the inner ear
Outer canal is bony labrynth , channels within the temporal bone that are filled with fluid called perilymph.
Inner canal of the inner ear
is the membraneous labyrinth, channels with more or less the same shape as the bony labyrinth and filled with fluid called endolymph
Does communication exist between the endolymph and perilymph?
No. The two labyrinths divide the cochlea into three chambers:
Three chambers of the Cochlea
Scala Vestibuli
Scala Tympani
Scala Media
Organ of Corti
is found along the length of the floor of the scala media, making up the basilar membrane. Hair cells are found here, which are the sound receptors