senses Flashcards
(27 cards)
what are the general functions of the sensory system
- detection of stimuli (sensory receptors detect physical or chemical changes in environment)
- transduction (sensory receptors convert stimuli into electrical signals)
- transmission (signals are sent from PNS to CNS)
- interpretation (the brain interprets and processes the signals)
- response to environment (after processing, the brain initiates an appropriate physical response.)
what are the differences between general senses and special senses
- general senses have receptors distributed over a large part of the body, while special senses are located only in specific parts of the body.
- general senses are fairly simple in terms of their anatomy and physiology, while special senses are more specialized in structure and nerve endings.
- many general senses, but only five special senses
function of mechanoreceptors?
sensitive to mechanical force (touch, pressure, vibration, stretch, tension)
function of thermoreceptors?
sensitive to temperature changes
function of nociceptors?
respond to painful stimuli (potential harm) due to tissue damage (from trauma or heat/chemicals, etc)
function of chemoreceptors?
respond to chemicals in solution
function of photoreceptors?
respond to light energy
examples of unencapsulated sensory receptors?
- free nerve endings
- hair receptors
- tactile disk
examples of encapsulated sensory receptors?
- tactile corpsucle
- krause end bulb
- ruffini corpsucle
- lameliated corpsucle
- muscle spinds
- golgi tendon organ
what is the olfactory epithelium?
pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium with olfactory receptor cells
what is the function of chemoreceptors in the olfactory area
mucus acts as a solvent to dissolve airborne odorants
what makes olfactory receptor cells unique
- exposed to external environment
- short lifespan (30-60 days) and are then replaced
