Nervous System and Sensory Pathways

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts from the lecture on the nervous system, sensory pathways, and related disorders.

Proprioceptive Neurons

Neurons that sense where your body is in space, located in tendons and muscle spindles.

Haptic Cells

Neurons that respond to touch and pressure, associated with mechanoreceptors.

Deafferentation

The process of severing afferent pathways, causing numbness or loss of sensation.

Bell and Magendie's Law

Principle stating that afferent neurons enter the spinal cord through the posterior or dorsal root.

Nociceptive Neurons

Neurons that transmit pain and temperature sensations, usually small and unmyelinated.

Monosynaptic Reflex

A simple reflex pathway that involves one synapse between an afferent neuron and an efferent neuron.

Referred Pain

Pain perceived in a different location than where the injury occurs, often due to interior organ inflammation.

Gating Theory of Pain

Theory explaining how the activation of large myelinated fibers can inhibit the perception of pain from smaller fibers.

Opiates

Natural or synthetic substances that relieve pain by mimicking endogenous opioids.

Vestibular System

Part of the inner ear that helps maintain balance and spatial orientation.

Hyposensitivity

A decreased sensitivity to sensory stimuli, often linked to nerve damage or dysfunction.

Periaqueductal Gray Matter

Area in the midbrain involved in pain suppression and the modulation of pain signals.

Afferent Pathways

Nerve pathways that transmit sensory information to the central nervous system.

Anesthetic

A drug used to induce a loss of sensation or consciousness, which can affect sensory pathways.

Contralateral Ascension

The phenomenon where sensory messages cross to the opposite side of the body as they travel to the brain.

Somatosensory Cortex

Brain region responsible for processing sensory information from the body.