SPECIAL SENSES

Question 1

Sight

Answer 1

• visual system interprets what we see
• necessary to recognising shapes, colours, letters, words and numbers
• important in reading body language and nonverbal cues during social interactions
• guides our movements
• sight or vision is the capability of the eyes to focus and detect images of visible light and generate electivas nerve impulses for varying colours, hues and brightness
• visual perception is how the brain processes these impulses - recognising, differentiating and interpreting visual stimuli through comparison

Question 2

Smell

Answer 2

• ability to detect scent —> chemical, odour molecules in the air
• olfactory system begins with our nose (hundred of olfactory receptors)
• odour molecules possess a variety of features and thus, excite specific receptors more or less strongly
• chemical nature of odorant important, may be chemotopic map in brain

Question 3

Taste

Answer 3

• taste and smell are very closely linked
• taste or gestation refers to capability to detect the taste of substances (food etc)
• sense of taste often confused with sense of flavour —> combination of taste and smell perception
• humans receive taste organs through sensory organs called taste buds concentrated on the upper surface of the tongue
• 5 basic tastes: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, savoury (umami)

Question 4

hearing

Answer 4

• use our auditory system to identify quality, direction of sound
• hearing or audition is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations, changes in the pressure of the surrounding medium
• auditory processing relies on how the brain interprets, recognises and differentiates sound stimuli

Question 5

Touch

Answer 5

• tactile system refers to the awareness of touch through receptors in skins
• 2 levels: discrimination to tell us where the touch is on our body, tell us whether it is a safe or dangerous touch
• touch or somatosensory is a perception resulting from activation of neural receptors (usually in skin)
• somatosensory system is a diverse sensory system that is spread through all major parts of our body
• system works when activity in a sensory receptor triggered by a specific stimulus, signal eventually passes to an area in the brain uniquely attributed to that area on the body and allows the processes stimulus to be felt at the correct location

Question 6

Vestibular

Answer 6

• contributes to balance and our sense where our body is in space
• provides the most input about movement in the body
• vestibular system explains the perception of our body in relation to gravity, movement and balance
• measures acceleration, g-force, body movements and head position

Question 7

Propioception

Answer 7

• perception of sensation of the muscles and joints enabling the brain to know where each part of the body is and how it is moving
• developed by the nervous system as a means to keep track of and control different parts of the body, using feedback from movements of joints and muscles
• sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement
• sense is very important as it lets us know where our body parts are

Question 8

Opt/i; opt/o; optic/o; ophthalm/o

Answer 8

Eye

Question 9

Phac/o; phack/o

Answer 9

Lens

Question 10

Retin/o

Answer 10

Retina

Question 11

lacrim/o

Answer 11

Lacrimal duct

Question 12

Blephar/o

Answer 12

Eye lid

Question 13

Iris/o; ir/o

Answer 13

Iris

Question 14

Scler/o

Answer 14

Sclera

Question 15

Conjunctiv

Answer 15

Conjunctiva

Question 16

Corne/o; kerat/o

Answer 16

Cornea

Question 17

Cataract

Answer 17

Loss of transparency

Question 18

Glaucoma

Answer 18

Increase in fluid pressure

Question 19

-opia

Answer 19

Vision condition

Question 20

Myopia

Answer 20

Near sighted

Question 21

Hyperopia

Answer 21

Far sighted

Question 22

Blindness

Answer 22

Ability to see

Question 23

Legal blindness

Answer 23

Best corrected vision reduced to 20/200

Question 24

Snellen chart

Answer 24

• “E chart”
• visual accumulation (what can we see at 20 feet)

Question 25

LASIK

Answer 25

Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis

Question 26

Acoustic/o; acoust/o; Audi/o; audit/o; ot/o

Answer 26

Ears

Question 27

Pinn/i

Answer 27

Outside of ear

Question 28

Myring/o; tympan/o

Answer 28

Middle ear (tympanic membrane - ear drum)

Question 29

Labyrinth/o

Answer 29

Inner ear (cochlea)

Question 30

-cusis

Answer 30

Hearing

Question 31

Air conduction

Answer 31

Sound travelling through pineal ear / ear canal until it hits ear drums

Question 32

Bone conduction

Answer 32

Ear drum vibrates causing auditory to move

Question 33

Deafness

Answer 33

Hearing loss

Question 34

Tinnitus

Answer 34

Ringing in ears

Question 35

Equilibrium

Answer 35

Sense of balance

Question 36

Vertigo

Answer 36

Illusion of movement —> dizziness or lightheaded

Question 37

Gestation; -geusia

Answer 37

Sense of taste

Question 38

Olfactory; -osmia

Answer 38

Sense of smell

Question 39

Tactile

Answer 39

Sense of touch

Question 40

Rinne test

Answer 40

- test air and bone (hearing)

Question 41

Weber test

Answer 41

Test bone (hearing)

Question 42

Ophthalmologist

Answer 42

- M.D. - diagnose - can perform surgery

Question 43

Optician

Answer 43

- can give prescriptions for contacts and glasses

Question 44

Optometrist

Answer 44

- examine, diagnose and treat diseases