1.3 Sensory Neuroscience

Law of Specific Nerve Energies – The sensation we experience depends on which sensory nerve pathway is activated and not how it is stimulated.

____

Polysensory – Information from more than one sense is involved.

Sensory Integration – The process of combining information from different senses.

Multisensory Integration – The process of combining information from two or more senses to create a unified perception.

____

Frontal Lobe – A large brain region involved in planning, decision-making, and movement.

Motor Cortex – A specific area of the frontal lobe that controls voluntary movement.

Parietal Lobe – A large brain region involved in processing body sensations and spatial information.

Somatosensory Cortex – A specific area of the parietal lobe that processes touch and sensations from the body.

Occipital Lobe – A large brain region mainly involved in vision.

Visual Cortex – A specific area of the occipital lobe that processes visual information.

Temporal Lobe – A large brain region involved in hearing, memory, and language.

Auditory Cortex – A specific area of the temporal lobe that processes sound and hearing.

Olfactory Cortex – A specific area involved in processing smell.

____

Neuron – A specialized cell that receives, processes, and sends information through the nervous system.

Synapse – The small gap between neurons where signals are passed from one neuron to another.

Neurotransmitter – A chemical messenger released by a neuron that carries signals across the synapse to another neuron or cell.

____

EEG (Electroencephalography) – Records the brain’s electrical activity using sensors placed on the scalp.

ERP (Event-Related Potential) – A change in the brain’s electrical activity in response to a specific event or stimulus, measured with EEG.

MEG (Magnetoencephalography) – Measures the magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain.

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) – Produces detailed images of the brain’s structure using magnetic fields and radio waves.

fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) – Measures changes in brain activity by tracking changes in blood flow/oxygenation.

BOLD Signal (Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent Signal) – Measures changes in blood oxygen levels that are used to indicate brain activity in fMRI.

PET (Positron Emission Tomography) – Uses a radioactive tracer to measure brain activity, such as changes in metabolism and blood flow.