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Chapter 10: Sensory Physiology (General Properties of Sensory Systems)

Terms in this set (19)

what are sensory stimuli divided into?
the SPECIAL SENSES of vision, hearing, taste, smell and equilibrium and the SOMATIC SENSES of touch, temperature, pain, itch, and proprioception
what are the four types of sensory receptors?
chemoreceptors, mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors, photoreceptors
what are the four types of sensory receptors based on?
the stimulus to which they are most sensitive
what does each receptor type have?
an adequate stimulus
what is an adequate stimulus?
a particular form of energy to which a receptor is most responsive
what creates a graded potential in the receptor?
a stimulus that is above threshold
what creates a single large receptive field?
when multiple sensory neurons converge on one secondary neuron
what becomes harder to discriminate as the receptive field becomes larger?
the exact point of stimulation
where does sensory information from the spinal cord project?
to the thalamus, then on to the sensory areas of the cerebral cortex
what is the only type of information not first routed to the thalamus?
olfactory information
what is the CNS able to change?
our level of awareness of sensory input
what is the perceptual threshold?
the level of stimulus intensity necessary for us to be aware of a particular sensation
what indcates the modality of a signal and its location?
the sensory neurons that are activated
what is label line coding?
the association of a receptor
what does lateral inhbition do?
enhances the contrast between the center of the receptive field and the edges of the field
what is population coding?
when the brain uses input from multiple receptors to calculate location and timing of a stimulus
how is stimulus intensity coded?
by the number of receptors activated and by the frequency of their action potentials
tonic receptors
sensory neuron fires action potentials as long as the receptor potential is above threshold
phasic receptors
respond to change in stimulus intensity and are rapidly adoptive receptors
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