week 8 Flashcards
4 somatic senses
touch, temperature, proprioception, nociception
5 special senses
vision, hearing, equilibrium, taste and smell
receptor potential
a receptor cell converts stimulus energy into a graded change in membrane potential. – receptor may then release neurotransmitter to affect a neuron, if the receptor is itself a neuron, it may fire action potentials.
transductions
receptors convert stimuli into electrical signals
receptor cells
in some sensory systems (vision), receptor cells are neurons; in others (hearing) they are non neuronal epithelial cells
adeuqate stimulus
form of energy to which a receptor cell is most responsive, but many receptors also respond to other forms of energy
perceptual threshold
weakest stimulus that will cause a conscious perception in an organism
receptor threshold
weakest stimulus that will cause a response in the receptor
what allows secondary and higher neurons to combine data from many receptors
convergence
stimulus modality
what stimulus is it? light sound, etc
population coding of intensity
Stronger stimuli may activate more neurons.
frequency coding
Stronger stimuli may make individual neurons fire at a faster rate
what sensory systems indicate modality by
labeled lines
labeled lines
modality is revealed by which axons carry a signal
phasic cells
respond briefly to any cells and then cease firing
phasic-tonic cells
react to change but dont return all th way to sero firing when the stimulus is constant, so they also carry information about its steady level
tonic cells
maintain their activity when the stimulus is not changing, signalling its present level
temporal changes
changes through time
what cells are phasic
many retinal cells are phasic
contrast
location where there is strong contrast are called edges
where do most sensory pathways run
via thalamus to cortex
exception: olfactory pathways don’t project via the thalamus
equilibrium pathways project mainly to cerebellum
spatial changes
differences between neighbouring regions in space; also called contrast
why is sensory processing inference?
sense data are incomplete and ambiguous so the brain has to infer
lateral inhibition
cells inhibit their neighbours or they inhibit the cells their neighbours excite