| Term | Definition |
|---|
| somatic receptors | nerves in the skin that respond to touch, pressure, temperature, and pain |
| perception | the process by which the brain organizes sensory information to make it meaningful |
| endorphins | substances produced by the body that can eliminate pain |
| pheromones | odor molecules given off by animals |
| photoreceptors | neurons in the retina that are light sensitive |
| absolute threshold | the point at which a person can detect a stimulus 50% of the time it is presented |
| visual cortex | part of the brain in which neural impulses are interpreted as visual images |
| cochlea | tubular snail-shaped structure in the inner ear containing cilia |
| auditory nerve | bundle of nerves that carry sound to the brain |
| sensory organs | take in information from the environment |
| gate-control theory | neural messages of pain to the brain are sometimes blocked in the spinal cord |
| sensory adaptation | reduction in sensory response to an unchanging form of stimulation |
| iris | regulates the amount of light entering the eye |
| receptor cells | nerve cells within the sensory organs that convert stimuli into neural impulses |
| retina | light-sensitive lining at the back of the eye that contains rods and cones |
Combine with other sets
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