History:
- Solomon’s group and inherent need for stimulation
- Individuals become distressed w/in 4-8 hrs, few lasted more than 24 hours
General Sensory Processing:
- Sensory transduction::when a receptor cells converts the energy of a stimulus into action potentials
- Each sense has it own specific set of receptor cells
- Hierarchical organization
- Stimuli → receptor cells → thalamic relay nuclei → primary sensory cortex → secondary sensory cortex → association cortex
- Functional segregation and parallel processing
- Multiple specialized areas at multiple levels - interconnected by multiple parallel pathways
- Think on a comparative level - how is there variation across species?
- Black fly, panther chameleon, American bald eagle - examples of ocular differences
Labeled Lines:
- Each nerve input to the brain reports only a particular type of info
- Distinguishing b/w different types of touch
- Travel thru the spinal cord and then are fully processed by the brain
Somatosensation:
- Types of skin -
- Hairy skin
- Glabrous::non-hairy skin; high sensitivity (palms of hands, lips, tongues, soles of feet)
- 2-point sensitivity test
- Glabrous skin - 3mm
- Hairy skin - 2+cm
Somatosensory Receptors:
- Nociception::perception of pain and temp; free nerve endings
- Haptic sensation::perception of fine touch and pressure
Dorsal Column System:
- Sense of touch neurons are longest in the body - going from longest toe upward thru the spinal cord into the medulla at the brain stem and then to the thalamus
- Toe → medulla; medulla → thalamus (crisscrosses - if on right side, will move to left); thalamus → somatosensory cortex
- Area of the medulla = decassation::criss-crosses
- Dermatomes::a strip of skin innervated by a particular spinal nerve
Pain:
Congenital Insensitivity to Pain:
- Born w/o perception of pain; no increase in HR, blood pressure, or respiration due to pain
- Weak gag reflex, complete lack of corneal reflex
- The “Human Pincushion”
- Small cluster in Sweden w/this specific gene
Pain Pathways - Anterolateral System:
- A Delta fibers::large in diameter, myelinated axons, fast travel = sharp pain
- C fibers::thin, unmyelinated axons, slow travel = dull or throbbing pain
- Withdrawal reflex to get away from the pain; vocal reflex at the midbrain (exclamation or curse)
Dual Pathways:
- Haptic and Proprioceptic Perception
- Dorsal Column System
- Enters spinal cord and ascends to the medulla prior to crossing
- Nociception
- Anterolateral system
- Synapse in the spinal cord and cross over
Peripheral Mediation of Pain:
- Inflammation and potential activation of the immune system
- Neurons are activated - collaterals that come off and release Substance P
- Substance P::further stimulates cells to promote action at the skin level
- Pain fibers release glutamate which goes up the spinal cord and signals the brain
Pain Perception/Long Term Pain:
- Glutamate::mild pain
- Substance P::intense pain
- Endorphins::if enough endorphins are produced, Substance P turns down = less pain
- Neuropathic pain::complicated gray area about why pain exists - neurons coded wrong? treat w/opiods?
- Phantom limb pain::some patients can be treated w/mirror image boxes and are more receptive to prosthesis b/c brain is still maintaining cortical space for the missing limb
Drugs of Interest:
- Naloxone::opioid antagonist
- Methadone::opioid agonist
- Long acting, decreased euphoria, remove withdrawal effects
Cortical Pathways and Somatosensation:
- Cingulate cortex; somatosensory agnosias
- Astereognosia::inability to recognize objects by touch - focal cortical lesion at area SII, which integrates inputs from finger joints w/tactile info
- Asomatognosia::failure to recognize parts of one’s own body - damage in the right posterior parietal cortex or premotor cortex
- Almost always in a left leg of left arm
- Almost always in stroke victims
- Recovery is weak
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