SPECIAL SENSE

Two Major Group of Senses

I) General senses

a. Receptors

b. Pain

II) Special senses

a. Olfaction / Smell

b. Taste

c. Vision / Sight

d. Hearing

e. Balance

a) Receptors

 These are sensory nerve endings or specialized cells capable of responding to stimuli by
developing action potential.

 Mechanoreceptors
 Chemoreceptors
 Photoreceptors
 Thermoreceptors
 Nociceptors
 Touch receptors –

Most common types of receptors nerve endings are:

Free nerve endings

 They are relatively unspecialized neuronal branches similar to dendrites.

 Some respond to painful stimuli, some to temperature, some to itch, and some to
movement.

b) Pain

 It is a sensation characterized by a group of unpleasant perceptual and

emotional experience.

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  There are two types of pain sensation:

a) Cutting pain

b) Aching pain

 Pain can be suppressed by:

a) Local anesthesia

b) General anesthesia

Gate Control Theory

 Rubbing the skin in the area of injury stimulates tactile receptors, which send action
potentials along the sensory axons to the spinal cord.

 According to this theory, these action potentials “close the gate” and inhibit action
potentials carried to the brain by the lateral spinothalamic tract.

 The gate control theory may explain the physiological basis for several techniques that
have been used to reduce the intensity of pain.

Phantom Pain

 Occurs in people who have had appendages or limbs amputated.

 They perceive intense pain in the amputated structure as if it were still there.

 Integration in the brain, particularly the cerebral cortex, results in the perception of pain
that is projected to the site of the sensory receptors for that pathway, even if those
sensory receptors are no longer there.

Referred Pain

 A painful sensation perceived to originate in a region of the body that is not a source of the pain
stimulus.

 Usually sensed in the skin or other superficial structures when deeper structures such as internal
organs are damaged or inflamed.

 This occurs because sensory neurons from the superficial area to which pain is referred and
neurons from the deeper, visceral area where the pain stimulation is converge on to the same
ascending neurons in the spinal cord.

 Thus, the brain cannot distinguish between the two sources of pain stimuli, and the painful
sensation is referred to the most superficial structures such as the skin.

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 1. Olfaction / Smell

2. Taste

3. Vision / Sight

4. Hearing & Balance

1) Olfaction (Smell)

 Occurs in response to airborne molecules called odorants that enter the nasal cavity.

 Olfactory neurons are bipolar neurons within the olfactory epithelium lining the
superior part of the nasal cavity

 Olfactory neurons in the olfactory epithelium are bipolar neurons

 Distal ends have olfactory hairs

 Olfactory hairs have receptors that respond to dissolved substances

 Approximately 1000 different odorant receptors

 Receptors activate G proteins, which results in ion channels opening and depolarization

2) Taste

Taste buds

 Are sensory structures that detect taste stimuli

 Oval structures located on the surface of the tongue’s papillae

 .

Function of Taste

Receptors on the hairs detect dissolved substances

Five basic types of taste exist:

1. Salty

2. Sour

3. Sweet

4. Bitter

5. Umami

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3) Vision

 Visual system includes the eyes, the accessory structures, and the sensory neurons that project
to the cerebral cortex where action potentials conveying visual information are interpreted.

 Accessory Structures for Vison:

i) Eyebrows

ii) Eyelids

iii) Conjuctiva

iv) Lacrimal apparatus

v) Extrinsic eye muscles

Accessory Structure for Vision

a) Eyebrows

b) Eyelids

c) Conjunctiva

d) Lacrimal Apparatus

Lacrimal Glands – produce tears which pass over the anterior surface of the eye.

Nasolacrimal duct – a duct connected to the lacrimal duct which drains to the nasal cavity.

Anatomy of the Eye

 The eyeball is a hollow, fluid-filled sphere.

 The sphere has a larger posterior compartment, which makes up about 5/6 of the eye, and
much smaller anterior compartment, which makes up about 1/6 of the eye.

Three Layers of the Eye Wall

1) Fibrous Tunic

Sclera

 A firm, white, outer connective tissue layer of the posterior five-sixths of the fibrous
tunic.

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  Maintains the shape of the eye, protects the internal structure, and provides
attachment sites for the extrinsic eye muscles.

Cornea

 It is the transparent, anterior sixth of the eye that permits light to enter the eye. It also
bends, or refracts, the entering light.

 It causes the greatest amount of convergence as light passes through the eye.

2) Vascular Tunic

 It is the middle tunic of the eye.

 It contains most of the blood vessels of the eye.

 Choroid – the posterior portion of the vascular tunic described as a very thin structure
consisting of a vascular network and many melanin-containing pigment cells, so that it
appears black in color.

 Ciliary body – located anteriorly, and is continuous with the anterior margin of the
choroid.

 Lens – a flexible, biconvex, transparent disc.

 Iris – the colored part of the eye. It is attached to the anterior margin of the ciliary body,
anterior to the lens.

 Pupil – an opening surrounded by smooth muscles. Its diameter is regulated by the iris
which controls the amount of light entering the eye.

3) Nervous Tunic (Retina)

 It is the innermost tunic and it covers the posterior 5/6 of the eye.

Pigmented retina – it keeps light from reflecting back into the eye and
lacks photoreceptors.

 Sensory retina – it contains numerous interneurons. It also contains photo

receptors that respond to light.

A. Rods – 20 times more common than cones. These are very sensitive to light and
can function in very dim light, but they do not provide color vision.

B. Cones – these require more light, and they provide color vision. There are three
types of cones. Each sensitive to a different color: blue, green, red.

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Rhodopsin – a photosensitive pigment contained inside the rods, when struck by bright light, it
separates into retinal and opsin and in dim light they combine again together forming rhodopsin.

 Manufacture of retinal in rod cells takes time and requires vitamin A

Two Major Features of the Posterior Region of the Retina when examined in Ophtalmoscope

1) Macula lutea

 A small yellow spot near the center of the posterior retina

 Fovea centralis – a small pit in the center of the macula lutea where light is normally
focused when the eye is looking directly at an object. It contains only cone cells.

2) Optic disc

 A white spot just medial to the macula lutea through which a number of blood vessels
enter the eye and spread over the surface of the retina.

 It has no photoreceptor cells and does not respond to light, thus it is called the “blind
spot” of the eye.

Chambers of the Eye

A) Anterior Chamber and Posterior Chamber

 Anterior chamber is located between the cornea and the iris.

 Posterior chamber is located between the iris and the lens.

 They are filled with aqueous humor, which helps maintain pressure in the eye, refracts
light, and provides nutrients to the inner side of the eye.

 It keeps the eye inflated. If the flow of aqueous humor is blocked, the pressure increases
resulting in a condition called glaucoma which can result to blindness.

B) Vitreous Chamber (Postremal chamber)

 It is filled with a transparent jelly-like substance called vitreous humor. It helps maintain
pressure within the eye and holds the lens and retina in place.

 It is located posterior to the lens

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Functions of the Complete Eye

1) Light Refraction

 As light rays pass through the lens, they converge and reach a point at which they cross
that is called the focal point.

 Focusing causes light to converge

2) Focusing of Images on the Retina

 The cornea is a convex structure, and as light pass from the air through the cornea, light
converge.

 When the ciliary muscles are relaxed, the suspensory ligaments of the ciliary body
maintain elastic pressure on the perimeter of the lens, keeping it relatively flat, thus
allowing for distant vision.

 When an object is brought closer than 20 ft. to the eye, the ciliary muscles contract as a
result of parasympathetic stimulation, pulling the ciliary body towards the lens, making
it more convex and causes greater refraction of light, thus allowing for near vision. This
process is called accommodation.

Accommodation – enables the eye to focus on objects closer than 20 ft. on the retina.

4) Hearing & Balance

 Organs of hearing and balance are divided into three parts:

i. External Ear – the part extending from the outside of the head to the eardrum

ii. Middle Ear – the air-filled chamber medial to the eardrum

iii. Inner Ear – The inner ear is a set of fluid-filled chambers medial to the middle
ear

The Ear and Its Functions

i) External Ear

Auricle

 The fleshy part of the external ear on the outside of the head.

 The auricle opens into the external meatus, a passageway that leads to the ear
drum.

 It collects sound waves.

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  The external meatus is lined with hairs and ceruminous glands, which produce
cerumen, a modified sebum called earwax. They prevent the entry of foreign
objects to the eardrum

Tympanic membrane or Eardrum

 A thin membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear.

 It vibrates when sound waves reach this point.

ii) Middle Ear

 Medial to the tympanic membrane is the air-filled cavity of the middle ear.

 The middle ear connects to the inner ear by the oval window and round window.

 It contains three auditory ossicles (bones of the middle ear) which transmit vibration
from the tympanic membrane to the oval window:

 Stapes
 Incus
 Malleus

 There are two unblocked openings into the ear:

a) opening into the mastoid air cells in the mastoid process of the temporal lobe;

b) auditory tube (Eustachian tube), which opens into the pharynx and enables air pressure to be
equalized between the outside air and the middle air cavity.

iii) Inner Ear

 It consists of interconnecting tunnels and chambers within the temporal bone called the
bony labyrinth.

Membranous Labyrinth – a smaller membranous tunnels and chambers located inside the bony
labyrinth.

The membranous labyrinth contains endolymph, and the space between membranous and bony
labyrinth is filled with a fluid called perilymph.

The cochlear duct contains endolymph

The scala vestibuli and the scala tympani contain perilymph

 The bony labyrinth can be divided into three regions:

a) Cochlea – involved in hearing

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 b) Vestibule

c) Semicircular canals – primarily involved in balance.

Hearing

Cochlea

 It is shaped like a snail shell and contains a bony shaped like a screw.

 The cochlear duct is filled with endolymph.

 Inside is a specialized structure called organ of corti or spriral organ.

o It contains hair cells that have hair-like microvilli embedded in the tectorial
membrane.

o The hair cells have no axons of their own, but each cell is associated with axon
terminals of the sensory neurons, the cell bodies of which are located within the
spiral ganglion.

o Axons from the sensory neuron join to form the cochlear nerve.

o These nerves join to form the Auditory (Vestibulocochlear) nerve (CN VIII),
which carries action potentials to the brain.

a Y-shaped membranous complex divides the Cochlea into 3 parts:

1. Spiral lamina

2. Vestibular membrane

3. Basilar membrane

Cochlear duct – is the space between the vestibular and basilar membranes that is filled with endolymph

Balance / Equilibrium

The sense of equilibrium, or balance, has two components:

a) Static Equilibrium

It is associated with the vestibule and is involved in evaluating the position of the head relative to
gravity.

b) Kinetic Equilibrium

It is associated with the semicircular canals and is involved in evaluating changes in the direction and
rate of head movements.

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Vestibule

 It can be divided into two chambers: the utricle and the saccule.

 Each chamber contains specialized patches of epithelium called the maculae, which are
surrounded by endolymph and has microvilli.

 The tips of the microvilli are embedded in a gelatinous mass weighted by otoliths, which
are particles composed of protein and calcium carbonate.

 The weighted gelatinous mass moves in response to gravity, bending the hair cell
microvilli and initiating action potentials in the associated neurons and sent to the
vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII).

Semicircular Canals

 They are involved in kinetic equilibrium and placed at nearly right angles to one another.

 They enable an individual to detect movements in essentially any direction.

 The base of semicircular canal is expanded into an ampulla.

 Cupula – it is structurally and functionally similar with maculae, except that it contains
no otoliths. It functions as a float that is displaced by endolymph movement within the
semicircular canals.

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