Chapter 14: The Somatic Nervous System

A collection of vocabulary flashcards based on the key concepts from Chapter 14: The Somatic Nervous System, focusing on sensory systems and their related functions.

Somatic Nervous System

The part of the nervous system that controls voluntary movements and muscle control in the body.

Gustation

The sense of taste, responsible for detecting chemical stimuli via taste buds.

Olfaction

The sense of smell, responsible for detecting airborne odorant molecules using olfactory receptors.

Audition

The sense of hearing; the transduction of sound waves into neural signals.

Action Potential

A temporary change in electrical potential across a cellular membrane, crucial for sending signals through sensory neurons.

Cranial Nerves

Nerves that emerge directly from the brain and are involved in processing special and general senses.

Papillae

Bumps on the surface of the tongue that contain taste buds.

Gustatory Receptor Cells

Specialized cells within taste buds that detect the five basic tastes.

Utricle

An inner ear structure that detects horizontal acceleration.

Saccule

An inner ear structure that detects gravity and linear acceleration.

Cochlea

A spiral-shaped structure in the inner ear responsible for converting sound waves into neural signals.

Basilar Membrane

A membrane in the cochlea that vibrates in response to sound frequencies.

Photoreceptors

Rod and cone cells in the retina that detect light stimuli for vision.

Rods and Cones

Types of photoreceptors in the retina; rods are responsible for low-light vision while cones detect color.

Vascular Tunic

The middle layer of the eye composed of the choroid, ciliary body, and iris.

Neural Tunic

The innermost layer of the eye known as the retina, which contains photoreceptors.

Accommodation

The process by which the eye adjusts the shape of the lens to focus on near or distant objects.

Optic Chiasma

The point in the brain where optic nerve fibers cross, allowing visual information from both eyes to be processed.