Sensory Processing and Perception

Sensory Perception

  • Prosopagnosia: Face blindness, inability to recognize faces.
  • Olfaction: Sense of smell, involves olfactory bulbs.
  • Gustation: Sense of taste, involves taste buds.

Color Vision

  • Dichromatism: Color vision deficiency (two color receptors).
  • Monochromatism: Complete color blindness (one color receptor).
  • Trichromatic Theory: Theory explaining color vision with three receptors (red, green, blue).
  • Young-Helmholtz Theory: Another name for trichromatic theory.
  • Opponent-Process Theory: Color perception based on opposing color pairs (e.g., red-green, blue-yellow).

Auditory Perception

  • Auditory Transduction: Process of converting sound waves into neural signals.
  • Frequency: The number of sound wave cycles per second, determines pitch.
  • Amplitude: The height of sound waves, determines loudness.
  • Place Theory: Pitch perception based on specific locations along the cochlea.
  • Frequency Theory: Pitch perception based on the frequency of nerve impulses.
  • Volley Theory: Extension of frequency theory explaining how multiple neurons can fire at higher frequencies.

Ear Anatomy

  • Middle Ear Parts: Hammer, anvil, stirrup.
  • Inner Ear: Includes cochlea, responsible for sound transduction.
  • Cochlear Implant: Device to treat hearing loss by stimulating the auditory nerve.
  • Eardrum: Membrane that vibrates in response to sound waves.
  • Sound Localization: Ability to determine the origin of sound.
  • Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Hearing loss due to damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve.
  • Conduction Deafness: Hearing loss due to problems in the outer or middle ear.

Sensory Systems

  • Somatosensory Cortex: Processes tactile information and body sensations.
  • Skin Senses: Sense of touch (includes warm/cold receptors).
  • Vestibular Sense: Sense of balance and spatial orientation, involves semicircular canals.
  • Kinesthetic Sense: Awareness of body position and movement.
  • Pheromones: Chemical signals affecting behavior and physiology.

Taste Categories

  • Types of Taste: Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami.
  • Supertasters/Nontasters/Medium Tasters: Variation in taste sensitivity.
  • Oleogustus: Proposed taste sensation for fats.

Pain and Sensations

  • Gate-Control Theory: Explains the perception of pain as a process regulated by the nervous system.
  • Phantom Limb Sensation: Sensation of pain or feeling in an amputated limb.
  • Adaptive: Refers to the sensory systems' ability to adjust to stimuli.
  • Embodied Cognition: Concept that cognition is shaped by the body and sensory experiences.