Exam 3 Somatosensory system Flashcards
(37 cards)
What is the function of the receptor?
To translate external energy forms into action potentials
Receptor can be likened to what?
Transducers
T/F Receptors can be specialized endings of afferent neurons or can be cells that are separate from the afferent neurons
True
What kind of potential is a receptor potential?
Graded potential
Which receptors show adaptation to a stimulus?
All receptors show some degree of adaptation
Free nerve endings have what type of innervation?
Lightly myelinated Group III (A-delta) axons OR Group IV (C) unmyelinated axons
What are hair receptors innervated by?
Lightly myelinated Group III (A-delta) axons
Merkel’s receptors, Meisner’s, Pacinian and Ruffini corpuscles have what type of nerve fibers?
A-beta myelinated axons
What is lateral inhibition?
A way to localize a stimulus, by inhibiting input from area around the stimulus
What size of receptive fields have the greatest acuity or discrimination ability?
Smaller ones
What are the two submodalities of limb proprioception?
Limb position sense (stationary) and kinesthesia (sense of limb movement)
What are the four type of receptors the stationary and mobile positions of the limb?
Joint receptors, muscle spindles, golgi tendon organs, and cutaneous mechanoreceptors.
What are the four types of joint receptors?
Free nerve endings, Ruffini’s endings, Paciniform corpuscles, and Ligament receptors
What is the receptor for the stretch reflex?
The muscle spindle
Where are most golgi tendon organs found?
In the origin and insertion aponeurosis
What pathway carries discriminative tactile sensations from the body?
Dorsal Column-Medial Lemniscal Pathway (DCML)
Axons in the DCML from the lower extremities are carried in what fasciculus? From upper extremities?
Gracilis. Cuneatus
Where do DC axons terminate?
In the medulla as the synapse unto the nucleus gracilis and nucleus cuneatus
What do the neurons in the gracilis and cuneatus nuclei ascend thru the brainstem as?
Medial Lemniscus
What are the second order neurons of the DCML pathway?
The medial lemniscus neurons
Where does the ML ascend to from the medulla?
Thalamus
Where do the ML neurons synapse on the thalamus?
VPL nucleus
What are the third order neurons of the DCML
Thalamic neurons that ascend thru the corona radiata to the primary somatosensory cortex
What pathway carries discriminative tactile sensations from the face?
Trigeminal Lemniscal pathway