CHAPTER 9

SENSES
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter examines the general senses and special senses, emphasizing their importance as the
means by which the brain receives sensations from the outer world and the body. Sensory
receptors for touch, pressure, temperature, pain, vibration, itch, and proprioception (sense of
position) are spread throughout the body and are referred to as the general senses. The receptors
for the sensations of taste, smell, sight, hearing, and balance are highly localized to one or two
areas in the body and are referred to as the special senses. The structure of the special sense
organs for olfaction and taste are introduced. The structures of the eye and ear are examined in
greater detail. In all cases the relationship between the structure of each sensory apparatus and
its ability to provide information about changes to the local environment are stressed. The
chapter concludes with a discussion of how aging affects the special senses.

CONTENT OUTLINE
I. General Senses
A. Sensation
1. General senses
a) Somatic senses
b) Visceral senses
2. Special senses
a) Smell
b) Taste
c) Sight
d) Hearing
e) Balance
B. Receptors
1. Types (according to stimulus)
a) Mechanoreceptors
b) Chemoreceptors
c) Photoreceptors
d) Thermoreceptors
e) Nociceptors
2. Types associated with the skin  (Fig. 9.1, p. 244)
a) Free nerve endings
(1) Pain
(2) Cold and hot receptors
(3) Itch
(4) Movement
b) Merkel's disks (light touch and superficial pressure)
c) Hair follicle receptors (light touch)
d) Meissner's corpuscles (fine, discriminative touch)
e) Ruffini's end organs (continuous pressure)
f) Pacinian corpuscles (deep pressure, vibration, proprioception)

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 C. Pain
1. Types—Sharp and diffuse
2. Local and general anesthesia
3. Gate control theory
4. Referred pain  (Fig. 9.2, p. 245)
5. Phantom pain Phantom Pain p. 246

II. Special Senses

A. Olfaction
1. Anatomy   (Fig. 9.3, p. 246)
2. Function
3. Neuronal pathways for olfaction
B. Taste A Case In Point: Loss of Taste p. 247
1. Taste buds   (Fig. 9.4, p. 247)
2. Taste sensations
3. Neuronal pathways for taste

III. Vision
A. Accessory structures  (Fig. 9.5, Fig. 9.6, p. 248)
1. Eyebrows
2. Eyelids
3. Conjunctiva
4. Lacrimal apparatus (Fig. 9.7, p. 249)
5. Extrinsic eye muscles (Fig. 9.8, p. 249)
B. Anatomy of the eye (Fig. 9.9, p. 250) TA 114
1. Fibrous tunic
a) Sclera
b) Cornea Cornea Transplants p. 250
2. Vascular tunic
a) Choroid
b) Ciliary body (Fig. 9.10, p. 251)
c) Iris and pupil (Fig. 9.11, p. 251)
3. Nervous tunic (or retina) (Fig. 9.12, p. 252) TA 115, 116
a) Pigmented retina
b) Sensory retina
(1) Rods—rhodopsin (Fig. 9.13, p. 253) TA 117
(2) Cones
(3) Macula lutea and fovea centralis (Fig. 9.14, p. 253)
(4) Optic disc
4. Chambers of the eye
a) Anterior chamber—aqueous humor
b) Posterior chamber-aqueous humor
c) Vitreous chamber-vitreous humor
5. Functions of the complete eye Clinical Focus: Eye Disorders p. 256‐257
a) Light refraction
b) Focusing images on the retina—accommodation (Fig. 9.15, p. 254)
Vision Tests p. 254
6. Neuronal pathways for vision (Fig. 9.16, p. 255) TA 118
A Case in Point: Double Vision p. 258

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IV. Hearing and Balance
A. The ear and its functions (Fig. 9.17, p. 259) TA 119
Clinical Focus: Ear Disorders p. 262
1.External ear
a) Auricle
b) External auditory meatus
c) Tympanic membrane
d) Ceruminous glands
2. Middle ear
a) Oval and round window
b) Auditory (eustachian) tube
c) Auditory ossicles—malleus, incus, and stapes
3. Inner ear (Fig. 9.19, p. 261)
a) Membranous labyrinth—endolymph and perilymph
B. Hearing
1. Cochlear structure & function (Fig. 9.18, p. 260) TA 120
2. Steps involved in hearing (Fig. 9.19, p. 261) TA 121
3. Neuronal pathways for hearing
D. Equilibrium (Fig. 9.21, p. 263)
1. Static equilibrium
a) Vestibule
(1) Utricle
(2) Saccule
(3) Maculae (Fig. 9.20, p. 263) TA 122
2. Kinetic equilibrium
a) Semicircular canals (Fig. 9.22, p. 264) TA 123
b) Crista ampullaris and cupula (Fig. 9.23, p. 264)
3. Neuronal pathways for equilibrium A Case In Point: Sea Sickness p. 265

V. Effects of aging on the special senses

FOCAL POINTS AND INTEGRATING THEMES

Relationship between structure and function:
Specialization of cell function is the hallmark of sensory physiology. Different sensory receptors
are specialized in different ways to accomplish their functions. If a correctly specialized sensory
receptor isn't present to be activated by a particular change in the external or internal
environment, then there is no way for the nervous system to know about that change.
The ear and the eye are the most complex sensory apparatuses with many complexly interacting
functional pieces. However, the pieces fit together so well that the structures of the ear and eye
are often cited as being evidence that they had to be deliberately designed for their functions. It
is up to you to decide how far along this line of argument you want to go, but the ear and the eye
are compelling examples of the link between structure and function.

Homeostasis and negative feedback:

Pain is an excellent example of a homeostatic mechanism, but the rest of the senses are also
important. For example, temperature receptors guide us to locations or conditions that help us
maintain our body temperature within narrow limits. In other words, behavior mechanisms
work with physiologic mechanisms to maintain homeostasis. An interesting exercise is to have
students try to develop a negative feedback loop for any body function that does NOT contain a

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sensory receptor of some sort. In this exercise any cell that can notice a change to its immediate
environment will be classified as a sensory receptor even if the cell has no neural attachments,
i.e., no sensory neuron.

Change through time:

Presbyopia, cataracts, and deafness are common conditions in the elderly. The changes in
function can be fairly clearly linked to specific changes in the structure of sensory receptors,
although the true cause of why some people experience these symptoms earlier and more
severely than others is not well understood at all.

Cell theory and biochemistry:

The rhodopsin light reception mechanism (described on pp. 251-253) is a clear example of the
biochemical nature of cell function in this chapter. Without functional pigment there is no vision
— regardless of what other structures may be present and fully operational.

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