Week 6: Hearing, Vestibular sense, Somatosensation, Pain, Olfaction. and Taste

Question 1

amplitude

Answer 1

loudness

Question 2

frequency

Answer 2

pitch, fundamental frequencies

Question 3

complexity

Answer 3

timbre, fourier analysis

Question 4

pinna

Answer 4

cartilage around the ear canal

Question 5

tympanic membrane

Answer 5

ear drum

Question 6

ossicles

Answer 6

amplify waves

Question 7

Inner ear

Answer 7

• cochlea
• tectorial membrane
• basilar membrane
• hair cells
• stereocilia

Question 8

stereocilia

Answer 8

U-shaped structures atop hair cells. as sound waves moves the fluid across the stereocilia, it bends them, triggering responses by the hair cells

Question 9

frequency theory

Answer 9

the basilar membrane vibrates in synchrony with the sound and causes auditory nerve axons to produce action potentials at the same frequency.

Question 10

place theory

Answer 10

each area along the basilar membrane has hair cells sensitive to only one specific frequency of sound wave

Question 11

audiogram

Answer 11

“Hearing test”: how loud (y-axis) does a sound need to be for it to be detected at different pitches (x-axis).

Question 12

vestibular system

Answer 12

Responsible for our perception of balance:
CN VIII (Vestibular nerve)… Cerebellum/ Brain stem

Question 13

Vestibular organ

Answer 13

3 semicircular canals (jellylike substance, hair cells)
2 otolith organs (utricle and saccule)

Question 14

functions of vestibular organs

Answer 14

Position of the body in relation to gravity
Changes in the direction and speed of movements of the head.

Question 15

Moving the head moves fluid (endolymph) within the 3 semicircular canals

Answer 15

In turn, this pushes against hair cells bending the cilia located on top of the hair cells
Bending cilia leads to receptor potentials in the hair cells and action potentials in the cells forming the vestibular nerve
Direction in which the cilia are bent determines whether the hair cell becomes depolarized or hyperpolarized

Question 16

somatosensory system

Answer 16

Provides bodily sensations such as:
Touch, temperature, pain, position in space, and movement of the joints
-Allows us to distinguish between what the external environment does to us (hot stove=burn) and what we do to it (withdraw hand)
-It has a closer relationship with motor actions than the other senses do

Question 17

somatosensory receptors

Answer 17

Areas with larger numbers of receptors are more sensitive to stimulation than areas with relatively fewer receptors
Sensitivity to different somatosensory stimuli depends on the kind of receptor that is stimulated
Stimulating these receptors opens the Na+ channels to elicit an action potential
Humans have 2 kinds of skin: hairy skin, glabrous skin (hairless)

Question 18

nocioception

Answer 18

pain and temperature

Question 19

hapsis

Answer 19

fine touch and pressure

Question 20

proprioception

Answer 20

location and movement of the body and body parts

Question 21

fast adapting receptor

Answer 21

Responds briefly to the beginning and end of a stimulus on body
Proprioceptive & Hapsis

Question 22

slow adapting receptor

Answer 22

Responds as long as a sensory stimulus is applied to body
Nocioception & Hapsis

Question 23

dermatone

Answer 23

a body area innervated by a single sensory spinal nerve.

Question 24

deafferented

Answer 24

Lost afferent input to a structure

Question 25

endorphins

Answer 25

a group of chemicals that attach to the same brain receptors as morphine
Morphine does not affect large-diameter axons that convey sharp pain, but it does block signals that are slower from dull pain (e.g. post-surgical pain)

Question 26

emotional pain

Answer 26

Emotional associations of pain (e.g., break-up, being left out)
Activate a path that goes through the reticular formation of the medulla and then to several of the central nuclei of the thalamus, the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and cingulate cortex
Brain activity in people with hurt feelings (e.g. being excluded from a social activity) tends to be similar (but not identical) to those experiencing physical pain

Question 27

substance P

Answer 27

-Spinal cord
-Involved in the transmission of pain info
-Neuropeptide
-Released during intense pain

Question 28

phantom pain

Answer 28

70% of amputees experience phantom pain (pain that is experienced as if it were in the missing limb)
Phantom pain is just as real a sensation as the phantom limb and is a significant problem in post-amputation pain management
The “phantom” originates in the brain