Chapter 16

Sensory, Motor,
and Integrative
Systems

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 General Sensations
❖ In this chapter we explore the levels and components of
pathways that convey sensory nerve impulses from the
body to the brain, and the general sensations (somatic
and visceral) that result. We will
also examine the activation of
motor pathways and movement
▪In chapter 17 we will look a

the special senses of sight

hearing, taste, and smell

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 General Sensations
❖ As sensory impulses reach the CNS, they become part of
a large pool of sensory input
(though not every one
will elicit a response
▪Each piece of
incoming information
is combined with other arriving
and previously stored information
in a process called integration

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 General Sensations
❖ Integration occurs at many places along pathways in the spinal cord, brain
stem, cerebellum, basal nuclei,
and cerebral cortex. Sensations result in
and evoke a conscious perception
or subconscious awareness that
changes have occurred in the
external or internal environment
▪ The motor responses are also

modified at several of these levels.

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 General Sensations
❖ Examples of complex integrative functions of the
brain include wakefulness and sleep, and learning and
memory

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 Sensory Modalities
❖ Each unique type of sensation is called a sensory
modality, and a given sensory neuron carries information
for only one modality, be it somatic, visceral, or “special”
▪ Somatic senses include tactile sensations (touch, pressure, vibration, itch, and
tickle), thermal sensations (warm and cold), pain sensations, and proprioception
(awareness of limb and joint position in space)
▪ Visceral senses provide information about conditions within internal organs

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 Sensory Modalities
❖ The process of sensation begins in a sensory receptor,
which can be either a specialized cell or the dendrites of a
sensory neuro
▪ A particular kind of stimulus (a change in the environment) activates certain
sensory receptors, while other sensory receptors respond only weakly or not at all
– a characteristic known as selectivity

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 Sensory Modalities
❖ For a sensation to arise, four events typically occur
1. Stimulation of the sensory receptor - an appropriate stimulus must
occur within the receptor’s receptive field
2. Transduction of the stimulus - a sensory receptor converts energy in a
stimulus into a graded potential. Recall that graded potentials (but not APs)
vary in amplitude depending on the strength of the stimulus that causes
them, and are not propagated

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 Sensory Modalities
❖ The four events that bring about a sensation, cont’d
3. Generation of nerve impulses – occurs when the sum of graded potentials
reach threshold in first-order neurons (the first neuron in a specific tract – in
this case from the PNS into the CNS)
4. Integration of sensory input – occurs when a particular region of the CNS
integrates a number (and even a variety) of sensory nerve impulses and results
in a conscious sensations or perceptions

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Sensory Modalities

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 Sensory Receptors
❖ Sensory receptors can be grouped into several classes
based on structural and functional characteristics:
▪Microscopic structure – free nerve endings vs encapsulated endings, for exampl

▪Location…of the receptors and the origin of the stimuli that activate the

▪The type of stimulus detected (nociceptors for pain, mechanoreceptors for pressure,

etc.)

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 Sensory Receptors
❖ Sensory receptors can be grouped into several classes
based on structural and functional characteristics:
▪Microscopic structure – free nerve endings vs encapsulated endings, for exampl

▪Location…of the receptors and the origin of the stimuli that activate them –

exteroceptors near the external surface vs interoceptors (visceroceptors), for exampl

▪The type of stimulus detected (nociceptors for pain, mechanoreceptors for pressure,

etc.)

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 Sensory Receptors
❖ Receptors named according to their location include
▪ Exteroceptors, which are located at or near the external surface of the body
and respond to external stimuli
▪ Interoceptors (visceroceptors), which are located in blood vessels, organs, and
muscles and produce impulses which usually are not consciously perceived
▪ Proprioceptors, which are located in muscles, tendons, joints, and the inner
ear. They provide information about body position and movement of joints

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 Sensory Receptors
❖ Receptors can also denote the type of stimulus that
excites them

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 Sensory Receptors
❖ Receptors named according to mode of activation are
▪ Mechanoreceptors, which are sensitive to deformation
▪ Thermoreceptors, which detect changes in temperature
▪ Nociceptors, which respond to painful stimuli
▪ Photoreceptors, which are activated by photons of light
▪ Chemoreceptors, which detect chemicals in the mouth (taste), nose (smell)
and body fluids
▪ Osmoreceptors, which detect the osmotic pressure of body fluids

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 Sensory Receptors
❖ A characteristic feature of most sensory receptors is
adaptation, in which the generator potential or receptor
potential decreases in amplitude during a sustained or
constant stimulu
▪ Because there is an accommodation response at the receptor level, the frequency
of nerve impulses traveling to the cerebral cortex decreases and the perception of
the sensation fades even though the stimulus persist
• receptors vary in how quickly they adapt (rapidly adapting and slowly
adapting receptors)

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 Mechanoreception
❖ Many of the mechanoreceptors and nociceptors previously
described are
located in
the skin

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 Mechanoreception
❖ This graphic illustrates some representative examples of
general somatic mechanoreceptors and the first-order
neurons to which they belong. Receptors for special senses
are not shown.

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 Nociception
❖ All of our sensory modalities are important, but pain
serves a protective function and is indispensable for
survival

▪ Nociceptors are chemoreceptive free nerve

endings activated by tissue damage from intense thermal, mechanical, or
chemical stimuli - they’re found in every tissue of the body except the brain

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 Nociception
❖ There are two types of pain: fast and slo
▪ The perception of fast pain (acute, well localized) occurs rapidly because the
nerve impulses propagate along medium-diameter, myelinated A fiber
▪ By contrast, slow pain begins after a stimulus is applied and gradually increases
in intensity over a period of several seconds or minutes. Impulses for slow pain
conduct along small-diameter, unmyelinated C fibers. This type of pain may be
excruciating and often has a burning, aching, or throbbing quality

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 Nociception
❖ Pain that arises from stimulation of receptors in the skin
is called superficial somatic pain; stimulation of
receptors in skeletal muscles, joints, tendons, and fascia
causes deep somatic pain
❖ Visceral pain results from stimulation of nociceptors in
visceral organ
▪ In many instances of visceral pain, the pain is felt in or just deep to the skin that
overlies the stimulated organ, or in a surface area far from the stimulated organ.
This phenomenon is called referred pain

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 Nociception
❖ Common patterns of referred visceral pain are shown in
this graphic

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 Proprioception
❖ Muscle spindles are the proprioceptors in skeletal
muscles that monitor changes in the muscle length and
participate in stretch reflexes
▪ By adjusting how vigorously a muscle spindle responds to stretching of a
skeletal muscle, the brain sets an overall level of muscle tone (the small
degree of contraction that is present while the muscle is
at rest)

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 Proprioception
❖ Each muscle spindle consists of several slowly adapting
sensory nerve endings that wrap around 3 to 10
specialized muscle fibers. A connective tissue capsule
encloses the sensory nerve endings and anchors the
spindle to the endomysium
and perimysium
❖ Muscle spindles are plentifu
in muscles that control fin
movements and much more
sparse in those that contro
course or forceful movements

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 Somatic Sensory Pathways

❖ No matter the type of receptor on the receiving end
(where the generator potential is set up), first-order
somatosensory neurons are unipolar in structure
▪ This means that their cell body is located in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) just
outside the CN
▪ Their other end terminates
nearby in the posterio
gray horns of the
cord, usually at th
level where they enter

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 Somatic Sensory Pathways

❖ Second-order neurons conduct ascending impulses
from the brain stem where their
axons decussate (cross over to
the opposite side) before
ascending to the thalamus
▪Thus, all somatic sensory
information from one side
of the body reaches the
thalamus on the opposite side

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 Somatic Sensory Pathways

❖ Third-order neurons
conduct impulses from
the thalamus to the
primary somatosensory
area of the cortex on the
same side.

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 Somatic Sensory Pathways
❖ Somatic sensory neurons (and their axons that convey
somatic sensations) are not distributed evenly in the
body
▪ The peripheral areas with the highest density are represented in the brain with
the
largest amount of gray matter in the
sensory homunculus. The mos
sensitive areas in the body ar
therefore the tip of the tongue,
lips, and fingertips

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 Somatic Sensory Pathways

❖ There are two major spinocerebellar tracts in the spinal
cord that carry proprioceptive impulses to the cerebellu
▪ Although they are not
consciously perceived,
sensory impulses sen
to the cerebellum
along these two pathways
are critical for
posture, balance, and
coordination of skilled movements

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 Somatic Motor Pathways

❖ Motor activity begins in the primary motor areas of the
precentral gyrus and other cerebral integrative center
▪ Any motor neuron that is not directly
responsible for stimulating target
muscles is called an upper
motor neuron (UMN)
•UMNs connect the brain t

the appropriate level in the

spinal cord

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 Somatic Motor Pathways

❖ From there, all excitatory and inhibitory signals that
control movement converge on second-order motor
neurons known as lower motor
neurons (LMNs) that descend
to innervate skeletal muscle
▪Since only LMNs provid

output from the CNS to

skeletal muscle fibers they are also
called the final common pathway

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 Somatic Motor Pathways

❖ Axons of LMNs extend through cranial nerves to the
skeletal muscles of the face and head, and through spinal
nerves to innervate
skeletal muscles
of the limbs and trun
▪Two of the major
LMN tracts are the
lateral and anterior
corticospinal tracts

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 Sensory and Motor Pathways

(Interactions Animation)
❖ Somatic Sensory Pathways

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 End of Chapter 16
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