Senses

Tactile sensations

produced by multiple receptor mechanisms.

Temporal lobe

learning, advanced visual processing

Occipital lobe

vision

Postcentral gyrus

primary somatosensory cortex

Parietal lobe

body sensation

Visual Pathways:

Retina —\> Optic Nerve —\> Optic Chiasm —\> Optic Tract

1. The thalamus sends information about vision to

to the amygdala and to the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe.

2. The amygdala uses visual information to

to make quick emotional judgments, particularly about harmful stimuli.

The primary visual cortex responds to

to object, shape, location, movement, and color.

Sound

waves

Sound consists of

Amplitude Frequency Complexity

1.Outer ear

gather the sound; tympanic membrane vibrates when sound reaches it, then triggers ossicles

Middle ear

ossicles, the vibration then trigger vibration of the oval window

3.Inner ear

oval window transfers the vibrations to the fluid of the snail-shaped cochlea

Two Streams of Auditory Cortex:

Anterior auditory pathway Posterior auditory pathway

Anterior auditory pathway

identifies the sound

Posterior auditory pathway

identifies where the sound is

Parallel processing

info flows between structures, simultaneously along multiple pathways, can switch and focus on different stimuli, attention - perception

Somatosensory system:

touch and pain

Exteroceptive cutaneous system:

outside body Mechanical stimulation Thermal stimulation Nociceptive stimuli

Mechanical stimulation

touch

Thermal stimulation

temperature

Nociceptive stimuli

surface pain

Proprioceptive system

body position

Interoceptive system

within body

Stereognosis

identification of objects by hand, using both fast and slow-adapting receptors.

Tactile sensations are produced by

by multiple receptor mechanisms

Vestibular system

carries information about the direction and intensity of head movements, which helps us maintain our balance.

Chemical senses evaluate

evaluate potential foods

Olfaction

the sense of smell, is the response to chemicals that contact the membranes inside the nose.

The receptors for taste are not true neurons but

but modified skin cells.

Like neurons, taste receptors have

have excitable membranes and release neurotransmitters to excite neighboring neurons, which in turn transmit information to the brain.