Week 5 Vocabulary Flashcards
Concave
Bending inwards
Convex
Bending outwards
Fundamental Frequency
The lowest frequency of a complex tone
Harmonic Frequency
Frequencies of a complex tone above the fundamental frequency.
Pitch
The perception of the frequency of sound waves
Weber’s Law
Quantifies the perception of change in a stimulus.
Probabilistic Response
The response to a stimulus occurs with a given probability distribution, rather than being all-or-none. For example, low wavelength photoreceptors have the highest probability of responding to blue light, but also have a lower probability of responding to violet light.
Transduction
The conversion of a stimulus to a neural signal. Transduction of light occurs in photoreceptors of the retina.
Transmission
The sending of a neural signal. Retinal ganglion cells transmit visual information from the retina.
Modulation
Varying the amplitude of a signal or a response.
Vestibular sense
The sense of balance and spatial orientation
Modalities
Aspects of stimuli that may be perceived, such as temperature, texture, and pitch
Cornea
Transparent external part of the eye, responsible for most of the eye’s focusing power
Iris
Controls the amount of light that enters the eye by constricting the pupil
Pupil
Hole through which light passes into the eye
Lens
Transparent flexible part of the eye that helps to focus light onto the retina
Retina
Site of phototransduction in the eye. Contains the light-sensitive cells that convert light into neural signals
Photopigment
Pigments that undergo a shape change when struck by a photon, allowing transduction of light to occur
Photoreceptors
Cells in which transduction of light occurs.
Rods
Photoreceptors responsible for vision in low-light conditions and peripheral vision
Cones
Photoreceptors responsible for vision in high-light conditions, including color, and are particularly dense at the fovea
Fovea
Pit in the retina with a very high density of cones that is responsible for visual detail
Pigment Epithelium
Cell layer just outside of the retina that provides support for photoreceptors
Ganglion cells (retinal)
Output neurons of the retina
Convergence
Adduction of both eyes towards the nose, useful for focusing on near objects
Pupillary Constrictions
Reduces the amount of light entering the eye and increasing the depth of field, making focusing on near objects easier
Rounding the lens
Adjusts fine focus of light onto the retina, particularly for near objects
Myopia
Nearsightedness
Hyperopia
Farsightedness
Emmetropization
The developmental process that determines the length of the eye to allow light from far objects to be accurately focused on the retina. It involves interactions between the sclera and the retina.
Scotopic
Low-light conditions, vision is dominated by rods
Photopic
High-light conditions, vision is dominated by cones
Scotoma
Areas in the visual field that cannot be seen
Blind spot
Small scotoma in each eye where the optic nerve leaves the eye
Agnosia
Inability to recognize objects
Prosopagnosia
Inability to recognize faces
Hemispatial neglect
Neglect of one visual hemisphere caused by damage to the contralateral visual system, usually the dorsal pathway
Amblyopia
Developmental problem that results in inability to interpret visual input
