General Concepts

• Sensory Interaction: How senses work together (e.g., taste and smell).

• Synesthesia: When one sense triggers another (e.g., seeing colors with sounds).

Visual System

• Retina: Light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye.

• Blindspot: Area where the optic nerve leaves the eye; no photoreceptors present.

• Visual Nerve: Transmits visual information from the retina to the brain.

• Retinal Images: Images projected onto the retina, often inverted.

• Lens: Adjusts shape for focusing light on the retina.

• Accommodation: The lens changing shape to focus.

• Nearsightedness (Myopia): Close objects are clear; distant objects are blurry.

• Farsightedness (Hyperopia): Distant objects are clear; close objects are blurry.

Photoreceptors & Vision Theories

• Rods: Detect light and dark; important for night vision.

• Cones: Detect color and detail; function best in bright light.

• Light/Dark Adaptation: Eye adjusting to changes in brightness.

• Trichromacy Theory: Three types of cones sensitive to red, green, and blue.

• Opponent Process Theory: Color perception from opposing color pairs (e.g., red-green).

Key Structures in Vision

• Fovea: Center of the retina; sharpest vision.

• Wavelengths: Determine color; shorter = blue, longer = red.

• Afterimages: Visual illusion of seeing the opposite color after staring.

• Ganglion Cells: Process and transmit visual information to the brain.

Color Blindness & Face Recognition

• Dichromatism: Partial color blindness (two functioning cone types).

• Monochromatism: Complete color blindness (only one cone type or none).

• Prosopagnosia: Inability to recognize faces, despite normal vision.

Brain & Vision

• Occipital Lobe: Brain's visual processing center.

Hearing Notes

Sound Waves & Theories

• Amplitudes: Affect loudness; higher amplitude = louder sound.

• Place Theory: Different parts of the cochlea respond to different pitches.

• Volley Theory: Neurons fire in groups to create the perception of pitch.

• Frequency Theory: Pitch perception based on how fast neurons fire.

• Sound Localization: Ability to identify where sound originates.

Hearing Challenges

• Aging: Leads to gradual loss of hearing ability.

• Conduction Deafness: Damage to the ear's mechanical systems (e.g., eardrum).

• Sensorineural Deafness: Damage to the cochlea or auditory nerve.