Senses

  1. Vestibular Sense

    1. : whole-body orientation, balance

    2. Semicircular canals

      1. In charge of balance
      2. Three of them
      3. In the ear
      4. Filled with liquid so your brain knows when and how you move

    3. Works with cerebellum and procedural memory

  2. Kinesthetic Sense

    1. Movement

    2. Muscle sense

    3. Location of specific body parts

      1. Receptors in joints, muscles

  3. Touch

    1. Skin connects to the somatosensory cortex (in parietal lobe)
    2. Four forms: pressure, pain, cold, warmth
    3. Different parts of the body have different levels of sensitivity
    4. Homunculus: representation of which parts of your body are most sensitive

  4. Pain

    1. Two types

      1. Fast pathway: emergencies like broken bones. Sharp pains

        1. Thick, myelinated A-delta fibers (myelinated: lots of glial cells)

      2. Slow pathway: not as serious. Aching and burning

        1. Longer-lasting 

    2. Gate-control theory: we have a neural “gate” at the spinal cord that blocks pain signals under some circumstances

  5. Smell

    1. Olfaction
    2. Odors interact with receptor proteins associated w hairs in the nose (hairs that hang down from olfactory bulbs. Not nose hairs)
    3. Info goes to olfactory bulbs in limbic system
    4. Olfaction is connected to memory (hippocampus) and emotion (amygdala)
    5. Anosmia = loss of smell
    6. Chemosensory sense: requires chemicals

  6. Taste

    1. Gustation (Gustavs in ratatouille (not him bringing it up after I did!!))

    2. Taste is a chemosensory sense

    3. Receptors are papillae

      1. Easily damaged and frequently replaced

    4. Flavor = taste and smell

      1. Sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami (proteins)