Week 3 Flashcards
Sensory Cells
- Gather info about environment and internal state
- ionotropic: receptor molecule is an ion channel
- Metabotropic: acts via GPCR
- Respond to specific stimuli
Interoreceptors
Internal body fluids, pH, osmotic concentration or blood (homeostasis)
Prorprioreceptors
Body movement and position
Exteroreceptors
External stimuli
- somesthetic surfaces: body surfaces
- special senses - highly localized and specific
Mechanoreceptors
Touch, pressure, proprioreception (ionotropic)
Chemoreceptors
specific chemicals (ionotropic and metabotropic)
Thermoreceptors
heat and cold (ionotropic)
Photoreceptors
photic energy (metabotropic)
Electroreceptors
Electric fields (ionotropic)
Magnetoreceptors
Position or change or magnetic fields (unknown)
Nociceptors
Pain receptors (ionotropic)
Receptor potential in specialized afferent ending sequence
- Sensory receptor (modified ending of an afferent neuron)
- generator potential
1. Stimulus enters the sensory receptor which triggers the opening of the stimulus-sensitive nonspecific cation channel (causes sodium influx)
2. This triggers the voltage-gated Na+ channel a little further down the receptor
3. This causes an action potential to travel down the afferent neuron fiber
Receptor potential in separate receptor cell
- receptor potential
1. Stimulus enters separate receptor cell which triggers the opening of the stimulus sensitive nonspecific cation channels, causing an influx of Na+, leading to the opening of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels which cause Ca2+ to rush in
2. The neurotransmitter in this receptor cell is released
3. The neurotransmitter binds the chemically gated receptor- channel on the neuron which causes an influx of sodium
4. voltage gated Na+ channels further down are triggered to open which leads to an action potential down the afferent neuron fiber
Sensory signals pathways
- Carried by the PNS to the spinal cord or medulla
- Secondary synapses in thalamus
- signal is related to sensory cortex
- brain decodes type, location, and intensity of stimulus
Receptive fields
Each sensory neuron responds to stimuli in a specific area – receptive field
Size of receptive field
The smaller the receptive fields, the greater the density of receptors – smaller receptive fields produce greater acuity or discriminative ability (fingertips)
Receptor density
- greater density with smaller receptive fields
- amount of cortical representation on the sensory homunculus corresponds with receptor density
Lateral inhibition
Strong signal in center of receptive field inhibits pathways in fringe areas
- Inhibitory interneurons stop transmission to second-order neurons so that the frequency of action potentials is lessened in fringe areas
Pain corpuscle – Mechanoreceptor
Deep pressure – located in dermis (middle layer)
Touch sensors – Mechanoreceptors
Highly sensitive, closer to skin surface; has cell receptors near the dorsal root ganglion – located throughout dermis and epidermis
Touch mechanoreceptors – Mechanoreceptors
Base of hairs – in dermis
Layers of skin
Epidermis (top), dermis, hypodermis (bottom)
Stretch receptors – Proprioceptors
Muscle spindles, golgi tendon organs
-largely in ear
Statocysts – Proprioceptors
Gravity receptors
-statoliths move in direction of body movement, bending sensory hairs
- simplest organs of equilibrium
- this opens gated channels, generating action potentials
-fluid in ear and sensory hair in ear