Lecture Notes on Sensory Receptors and Perception

Flashcards generated from lecture notes on sensory receptors and perception.

What is a receptive field?

The nerve ending that receives input from a specific area of the body.

Where on the human body do you find a lot of nerve endings?

Fingertips

What are the disadvantages of having every part of the body as sensitive as your fingertips?

Sensory overload and increased energy cost.

What is the result of having a small receptive field?

It allows for more precision but requires more nerves, increasing energy costs.

What is adaptation?

A reduction in sensitivity to a continually applied stimulus.

How does adaptation work?

Nerves get tired of continuous stimulation and ignore the stimulus.

Name a few of the general senses.

Tactile (touch), proprioceptors (joints), chemical, and temperature.

What are Somatic senses?

The consciously controlled part of the body.

What are Visceral senses?

Organs of the body

What is proprioception?

Your body's ability to tell where it is in space.

What do Proprioceptors do?

Receptors that detect body and limb movements, skeletal muscle contraction, stretch, and joint pressure.

Name the five types of receptors

Chemoreceptors, thermoreceptors, photoreceptors, mechanoreceptors, and nociceptors.

What receptors respond to changes in temperature?

Thermal receptors.

What do Mechanoreceptors do?

Detect distortion of cells; baroreceptors, proprioceptors, and tactile receptors.

Which receptors detect changes in pressure caused by stretch or distension?

Baroreceptors.

What type of receptors detect changes in color, intensity, and movement of light?

Photoreceptors.

What is referred pain?

Inaccurate localization of sensory signals.

How does referred pain occur?

The signals travel on the same ascending tracts of the spinal cord, so the brain falsely localizes the stimulus.

Where does the olfactory pathway project to?

They project directly to the primary olfactory cortex, the hypothalamus, amygdala, and other regions.

What is the purpose of eyebrows?

Prevents sweat from dripping into your eyes and are used for communication.

What structure functions as a diaphragm to control the pupil size?

The iris.

What are the layers of the eye?

Sclera, choroid, and retina.

What is the choroid?

Where all your veins and arteries are

What number is the optic nerve?

Two

What is the focal point at the back of the eye called?

Fovea centralis.

What is astigmatism?

Unequal focusing due to the eye losing its round shape.

What is Presbyopia?

Difficulty seeing things close-up as the lenses of the eye lose their round shape due to slackening ligaments.

Which photoreceptor sees black and white?

Rods

What are rods and cones?

They are photoreceptors in your eyes.

Which photoreceptor functions in dim light?

Rods

Which eye feature provides vitamin A for photoreceptor cells?

The retina

What happens at the optic chiasm?

The crossing of your brain, where the axons from the medial region of each retina cross to the opposite side of the brain.

Why do we have two eyes?

So that you can perceive depth.

What does Stereoscopic vision give us?

Depth perception.

Bones that hit the eardrum to make those vibrations to make that sense of your hearing into electrical signals.

Malleus.

Movements that help reset that fluid

Helps reset the fluid

Pitch

How high or low the note is, and it's a measure of frequency.

Decibels measure what?

How loud something is

What's the difference between frequency and amplitude

Frequency tells you how high or low the note is and Amplitude make things louder.