PS222 - Basics

1. Light

2. Sound

3. Chemicals

4. Pressure/heat

4 Physical Stimuli

Receptor cells

Cells that can detect physical stimuli

Transduction

The process of translating physical stimuli to neural signals

Receptive Field

an area on the sensory surface containing receptor cells which, when stimulated, change the activity of a neuron

equal

A neuron that receives signals from multiple neurons will have a receptive field size ______ to the total receptive field size of those neurons.

small, large

A receptive field with a small number of receptor cells will be _______, a receptive field with a large number of receptor cells will be _______.

• few receptor cells

• high resolution

• low sensitivity

Characteristics of a smaller receptive field

• many receptor cells

• low resolution

• high sensitivity

Characteristics of a larger receptive field

Resolution

The amount of information a neuron can convey, detail

Sensitivity

The level of receptiveness to weak or intense stimuli

smaller

Low-intensity stimuli cause a _______ change from baseline neuron activity

larger

High-intensity stimuli cause a _______ change from baseline neuron activity