Sensation and Perception 3.6 &3.7

Taste (gustation)

Taste (gustation)

the sense devoted to the detection of molecules dissolved in liquids (also called gustation), or the sensory experience resulting from perception of gustatory qualities

• Sweet

• Salty

• Sour

• Bitter

• Umami

sensory interaction

the two-phase chemical reaction that involves both our mouth and throat as well as our nose

supertaster

heightened sensitivity to taste relative to other in the population (extra taste buds)

Smell (olfaction)

chemical molecules breathed in through the nose

Smell Receptors

top of the nasal passage

Smell is responsible for __________ amount of taste

80%

Somesthetic Senses (touch)

the sense of the skin, allows us to feel light touch, pressure, pain, cold, and warmth

• signals are sent to the thalamus and to the somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobe

Gate- control theory of pain

the theory that there is a gate in the spinal cord that switches pain on and off, the more neurons fired the more intense the pain

• belief that chronic pain can close the gate

Kinesthesis

the system for sensing the position and movement of individual body parts, where are you/body awareness

Sensors

located in joints, tendons, bones, and ears

Vestibular

your sense of movement including balance

• controlled by our semicircular canals and the ____ sacs in response to the movement with similar receptors, balancing it out and creating equilibrium