ch. 13 Sensory Receptors and Reflexes Overview

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary related to sensory receptors, their types, adaptations, and reflex mechanisms based on the lecture notes.

Free Nerve Endings

Sensory receptors that detect pain, temperature, and pressure; adapt quickly.

Merkel Discs

Tonic receptors for light touch, texture, edges, and shape; located in the epidermis.

Meissner Corpuscles

Phasic receptors for fine touch and pressure; found in areas like eyelids and lips.

Vicinium Corpuscles

Receptors that detect deep pressure, located in dermis and various organs.

Proprioceptors

Sensory receptors that monitor body position and movement, located in muscles and joints.

Nociceptors

Receptors that detect pain; they are tonic and provide awareness of injured tissues.

Chemoreceptors

Receptors that detect changes in chemical concentrations, associated with the senses of taste and smell.

Exteroceptors

Receptors sensitive to stimuli arising outside the body, primarily found in special sense organs.

Interoceptors

Receptors that respond to stimuli arising within the body, such as those in the digestive and respiratory systems.

Receptor Adaptation

The process by which receptor sensitivity decreases with constant stimuli; includes peripheral and central adaptation.

Reflex Arc

The neural pathway that mediates a reflex action, consisting of sensory receptors, sensory neurons, an integrating center, motor neurons, and effectors.

Monosynaptic Reflex

A reflex arc with one synapse between the sensory and motor neuron, resulting in a rapid response.

Polysynaptic Reflex

A reflex arc that involves one or more interneurons between sensory and motor neurons, resulting in a more complex response.

Dermatome

An area of skin that is mainly supplied by a single spinal nerve root.

Pain Threshold vs Pain Tolerance

Pain threshold is the minimum intensity of a stimulus that produces a pain sensation; tolerance refers to the maximum level of pain a person can endure.

Referred Pain

Pain perceived at a location other than the site of the painful stimulus, often due to overlapping neural pathways.