Chapter 15

What is the job of sensory receptors?

Detect stimuli and turn them into signals your brain can understand.

What is sensory transduction?

The process of translating stimuli into signals for your brain.

What are exteroceptors?

Receptors that feel the outside world.

What do interoceptors monitor?

They monitor the inside of your body.

What do chemoreceptors detect?

They detect chemicals, involved in taste and smell.

What do photoreceptors detect?

They detect light, used for vision.

What do mechanoreceptors detect?

They detect touch, pressure, and motion.

What do thermoreceptors detect?

They detect temperature.

What do nociceptors detect?

They detect pain.

What is sensory adaptation?

The process where you notice a constant stimulus less over time.

Which sense adapts quickly, smell or pain?

Smell adapts quickly.

What are proprioceptors?

Receptors that tell you where your body is and how it moves.

What does a muscle spindle sense?

It senses stretch and helps contract muscles.

What does the Golgi tendon organ sense?

It senses tension and helps muscles relax.

What are cutaneous receptors?

Receptors in the skin that sense touch, temperature, pain, and pressure.

What type of receptors signal tissue damage?

Pain receptors.

What do taste buds on the tongue detect?

They detect tastants like sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami.

What path does a taste signal follow?

Taste cell → neuron → gustatory cortex.

What do olfactory cells detect?

They detect odorants.

What is the connection between smell and memory?

Smells are linked to memories through the limbic system.

What are the three layers of the eye?

Outer, middle, and inner layers.

What is the function of the lens in the eye?

It focuses light.

What do rods in the retina see?

They see in dim light.

What do cones in the retina see?

They see color and detail.

What is color blindness?

A genetic condition where individuals have trouble seeing certain colors.

What are the parts of the outer ear?

Pinna and auditory canal.

What is the path of sound to the brain?

Pinna → eardrum → ossicles → cochlea → brain.

What do hair cells in the cochlea detect?

They detect vibrations.

What contributes to balance in the inner ear?

Semicircular canals and vestibule.

What do otoliths detect?

They detect head tilt.

What is the role of the cochlea?

To transmit sound vibrations to the brain.

What is the visual pathway?

Retina → optic nerve → optic chiasma → thalamus → visual cortex.