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Neuroscience > Lecture 6 - Sensory Systems > Flashcards

Lecture 6 - Sensory Systems Flashcards

1
Q

What is meant by the term somatosensory? What sensations are involved?

A
  • term that encompasses all the different types of ways our body feels things
  • bodily sensations of touch, pain, temp, vibration, and proprioception
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2
Q

What are the different mechanoreceptors found in the skin?

A
  • free nerve endings
  • meissner corpuscles
  • merkel cells
  • ruffini endings
  • pacinian corpuscles
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3
Q

What type of input are free nerve endings sensitive to? What size are their receptor fields?

A
  • temperature, pain, crude touch (non-discriminant touch)

- small or large receptor fields

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4
Q

What type of input are meissner corpuscles sensitive to? What size are their receptor fields?

A
  • light touch

- small receptor fields

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5
Q

What type of input are merkel cells sensitive to? What size are their receptor fields?

A
  • light touch

- small receptor fields

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6
Q

What type of input are Ruffini endings sensitive to? What size are their receptor fields?

A
  • vibration and pressure

- large receptor fiedls

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7
Q

What type of input are Pacinian corpuscles sensitive to? What size are their receptor fields?

A
  • vibration and pressure

- large receptor fields

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8
Q

Define proprioception

A

sense of joint/limb position in space

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9
Q

How does our body detect proprioceptive changes?

A

intrafusal fibers are sensitive to when a muscle is stretched
- when you flex your bicep, the triceps is stretched and that signal tells the brain that the elbow is flexed

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10
Q

Where are each of the involved sensory organs located and how do they detect these changes?

A
  • muscle spindles in muscle belly - rate degree of stretch
  • Golgi Tendon Organs (GTO) near muscle-tendon junction - sensitive to tension in tendons
  • Joint receptors - monitor stretch in synovial joints
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11
Q

What other structures do joint receptors have and what are they sensitive to?

A
  • Pacinian corpuscles - sensitive to AROM
  • ruffini endings - indicate end-range and PROM
  • free nerve endings - pain from inflammation
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12
Q

How do we classify peripheral nerve fibers? How do these classifications apply to each of the sensory modalities involved in the somatosensory system?

A
  • A alpha - proprioception, fastest
  • A beta - proprioception, superficial and deep touch, vibration
  • A delta - pain, cool temperature, itch
  • C - pain, warm temperature, and itch
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13
Q

Define dermatome. How are these different from cutaneous peripheral nerves?

A
  • area of skin w/ sensory innervation by a signal dorsal spinal root
  • only 1 spinal nerve ending vs several for peripheral nerves
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14
Q

Describe the structures involved in the peripheral nervous system involved in somatosensation.

A
  • cutaneous/muscle receptor
  • ascend up peripheral nerve (ventral rami)
  • converge w/ dorsal rami at spinal nerve
  • bifurcates
  • dorsal structure through dorsal root ganglion to dorsal horn
  • dorsal or anterolateral column
  • ascend up white matter to brain stem
  • thalamus
  • primary somatosensory cortex in postcentral gyrus
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15
Q

What information is sent through the dorsal column of somatosensory?

A
  • light touch
  • proprioception
  • vibration
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16
Q

What information is sent through the anterolateral column of somatosensory?

A
  • pain
  • temperature
  • pressure
  • crude touch
17
Q

What information is conveyed through the Medial Lemniscal Tract?

A

proprioception, vibration, and discriminative touch

18
Q

Go through the pathway that ascending input takes to bring information from the periphery up to the brain way of the Medial Lemniscal Tract. Where are the points of synapse? Where does this tract decussate?

A

1st order

  • psuedounipolar neuron carrying signals from periphery enter spinal cord via dorsal root
  • ascend via cuneatus (upper) or gracilis (lower) fasciculi
  • decussate in caudal medulla and form medial lemniscus
  • continue up to ventral posterolateral (VPL) nucleus of thalamus

2nd Order

  • project up posterior limb of internal capsule
  • postcentral gyrus
19
Q

What information is conveyed through the Spinothalamic Tract?

A

Discrimination (location and intensity) of pain, temperature, and crude touch

20
Q

Go through the pathway that ascending input takes to bring information from the periphery up to the brain by way of the Spinothalamic Tract. Where are the points of synapse? Where does this tract decussate?

A

1st Order

  • pseudounipolar neurons carrying signals from periphery enter spinal cord via dorsal root
  • synapse in dorsal horn of spinal cord

2nd Order

  • Decussate through anterior commissure
  • ascend in anterolateral columns to
  • ventral posterolateral (VPL) of thalamus

3rd Order

  • project up posterior limb of internal capsule to
  • postcentral gyrus
21
Q

What information is conveyed through the Spinoreticular Tract?

A

Emotional and arousal aspects of pain

22
Q

Go through the pathway that ascending input takes to bring information from the periphery up to central nervous system structures by way of the Spinoreticular Tract. Where are the points of synapse? Where does this tract decussate?

A

1st Order

  • pseudounipolar neurons carrying signals from periphery enter spinal cord via dorsal root
  • synapse in dorsal horn of spinal cord

2nd Order

  • decussate through anterior commissure
  • ascend in anterolateral columns to caudal pons
  • terminates on medullary pontine reticular formation

3rd Order
- project to intralaminar thalamic nuclei

4th Order
- project to limbic system and frontal lobe

23
Q

What information is conveyed through the Spinomesencephalic Tract?

A

Pain modulation

24
Q

Go through the pathway that ascending input takes to bring information from the periphery up to central nervous system structures by way of the Spinomesencephalic Tract. Where are the points of synapse? Where does this tract decussate?

A

1st Order

  • pseudounipolar neurons carrying signals from periphery enter spinal cord via dorsal root
  • synapse in dorsal horn of spinal cord

2nd Order

  • decussate through anterior commissure
  • ascend anterolateral columns to
  • superior colliculus and periaqueductal gray in midbrain
25
Q

What types of nuclei are found in the thalamus?

A

Relay nuclei

  • medial nuclear group
  • lateral nuclear group
  • anterior nuclear group

Non-specific

  • Internal medullary lamina
  • thalamic reticular nucleus
26
Q

What nuclei are apart of the lateral nuclear group? What info do they relay? (6)

A
  • Ventral posterior lateral nucleus (VPL) - somatosensory (spinal cord) to primary sensory cortex
  • Ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) - somatosensory (CNs) to Primary Sensory Cortex
  • Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) - vision to primary visual cortex
  • Medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) auditory to primary auditory cortex
  • Ventral lateral nucleus (VL) - cerebellum and basal ganglia to primary motor cortex, premotor and supplementary motor cortex
  • Ventral anterior nucleus (VA) - cerebellum and basal ganglia to Primary motor cortex, premotor and supplementary motor cortex, frontal lobe
27
Q

What nuclei are apart of the medial nuclear group? What info do they relay?

A
  • mediodorsal nucleus (MD) - limbic, basal ganglia to frontal cortex
28
Q

What nuclei are apart of the anterior nuclear group? What info do they relay?

A
  • anterior nucleus - mamillary body, hippocampus to cingulate gyrus
29
Q

What are the general roles of our Primary Somatosensory Cortex versus our Somatosensory Association Cortex in the integration of ascending sensory input?

A

Primary
- receive info and process what it is

Somatosensory cortex
- packages up sensory info to help decide what to do next

Neuroscience (16 decks)

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