General & Special Senses

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to general and special senses.

Somatic Senses

Senses originating from the skin, muscles, and joints, including touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception.

Visceral Senses

Senses originating from internal organs, typically including stretch, pain, and pressure, usually not consciously perceived.

Sensory Neurons

Neurons that carry signals from sensory receptors to the central nervous system (CNS).

Primary Receptors

Receptors that are neurons themselves and generate action potentials directly, like those involved in smell.

Secondary Receptors

Separate receptor cells that release neurotransmitters to activate nearby neurons, as seen in taste, vision, and hearing.

Generator Potential

A change in membrane potential that directly triggers action potentials in primary receptors.

Receptor Potential

A change in membrane potential that occurs in secondary receptors and causes the release of neurotransmitters.

Tonic Receptors

Receptors that are always active and monitor constant stimuli, such as those for posture.

Phasic Receptors

Receptors that activate only when there is a change in stimulus and adapt quickly, such as feeling clothing.

Cutaneous Receptors

Receptors in the skin that detect various sensations; include free nerve endings, hair receptors, tactile discs, and more.

Olfaction

The sense of smell, mediated by the olfactory system and involving structures like the olfactory bulb and sensory neurons.

Gustation

The sense of taste, involving taste buds on the tongue that detect different tastants.

Visual Pathway

The route taken by visual information from the eye to the brain, including the optic nerve and visual cortex.

Cochlea

A structure in the inner ear responsible for hearing, containing fluid and hair cells that convert sound vibrations into neural signals.

Balance

The ability to maintain the body’s position and equilibrium, involving the vestibular system including the semicircular canals.

Dark Current

The influx of sodium ions (Na+) into photoreceptor cells in the absence of light, causing depolarization.

Glaucoma

A condition characterized by increased pressure in the eye, potentially leading to vision loss.

Rods

Photoreceptors in the retina responsible for low light vision, containing rhodopsin.

Cones

Photoreceptors responsible for color vision, using iodopsins in the RGB system.