Sense Organs and Endocrine Glands

Flashcards covering vocabulary related to sense organs and endocrine glands, including definitions of key concepts.

General sense organs

Function to produce the general, or somatic, senses like touch, temperature, and pain.

Special sense organs

Function to produce senses of vision, hearing, balance, taste, and smell.

Exteroreceptors

Respond to stimuli that are external to the body.

Interoreceptors

Provide information about the internal environment.

Proprioreceptors

Inform us about body movement, orientation in space, and muscle stretching.

Mechanoreceptors

Respond to stimuli that measure changes in pressure or internal movement.

Chemoreceptors

Activated by the amount or changing concentration of certain chemicals.

Thermoreceptors

Activated by changes in temperature.

Nociceptors

Perceive intense stimuli of any type that cause tissue damage.

Photoreceptors

Found in our eyes; respond to light stimuli in the visible spectrum.

Taste buds

Sense organ that responds to gustatory stimuli and houses chemoreceptors.

Anterior pituitary gland

Produces hormones like growth hormone and prolactin, and several tropic hormones.

Thyroid hormone (TH)

Includes Tetraiodothyronine (T4) and Triiodothyronine (T3), controls metabolism.

Parathyroid hormone (PTH)

Increases the release of calcium into the blood and maintains calcium homeostasis.

Glucagon

Increases blood glucose levels by stimulating the conversion of glycogen to glucose.

Insulin

Promotes the movement of glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids into tissue cells.

Prostaglandins

Act as local hormones and serve integrative functions throughout the body.

Hormonal signaling mechanism

Involves hormones binding to specific receptors on target cells, triggering regulatory changes.