CHAPTER 9: SENSES

Chapter 9: SENSES Pain

 an unpleasant perceptual and emotional experience
Senses  can be localized or diffuse
 Sense
 Ability to perceive stimuli.  Localized:
 Sensation  sharp, pricking, cutting pain
 Conscious awareness of stimuli received by sensory  rapid action potential
neurons.
 Sensory receptors  Diffuse:
 Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli by  burning, aching pain
developing action potentials.  slower action potentials
Classification of Senses Pain Control
 Local anesthesia:
 action potentials from pain receptors in local areas
of the body can be suppressed
 chemicals are injected near sensory nerve

 General anesthesia:
 loss of consciousness
 chemicals affect reticular formation

Referred Pain
 originates in a region that is not source of pain stimulus
 felt when internal organs are damaged of inflamed
Types of Senses  sensory neurons from superficial area and neurons of source
 General senses: pain converge onto same ascending neurons of spinal cord
 receptors over large part of body that sense touch, Areas of Referred Pain
pressure, pain, temperature, and itch.
 Somatic provide information about body and
environment.
 Visceral provide information about internal
organs.

 Special senses:
 smell, taste, sight, hearing, and balance

Types of Receptors
 Mechanoreceptors:
 detect movement
 examples; touch, pressure, vibration

 Chemoreceptors:
 detect chemicals
 example; odors

 Photoreceptors:
Olfaction
 detect light
 sense of smell
 Thermoreceptors:  occurs in response to odorants
 detect temperature changes  receptors are located in nasal cavity and hard palate
 we can detect 10,000 different smells
 Nociceptors:
 detect pain

Types of Touch Receptors

 Merkel’s disk:
 detect light touch and pressure

 Hair follicle receptors:

 detect light touch

 Meissner corpuscle:
 deep in epidermis
 localizing tactile sensations

Olfaction Process
 Ruffini corpuscle:
1. Nasal cavity contains a thin film of mucous where odors become
 deep tactile receptors
dissolved.
 detects continuous pressure in skin
2. Olfactory neurons are located in mucous. Dendrites of olfactory
neurons are enlarged and contain cilia.
 Pacinian corpuscle:
3. Dendrites pick up odor, depolarize, and carry odor to axons in
 deepest receptors
olfactory bulb (cranial nerve I).
 associated with tendons and joints
4. Frontal and temporal lobes process odor.
 detect deep pressure, vibration, position
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CHAPTER 9: SENSES
Taste Vision
 Taste buds  the visual system includes the eyes, the accessory structures,
 sensory structures that detect taste and sensory neurons
 located on papillae on tongue, hard palate, throat  the eyes are housed within bony cavities called orbits
 inside each taste bud are 40 taste cells  visual input includes information about light and dark,
 each taste cell has taste hairs that extend int taste movement and color.
pores.
Accessory Structures of the Eye
 accessory structures protect, lubricate, and move the eye

 Eyebrows
 protect the eyes by preventing perspiration from
running down the forehead and into the eyes, causing
irritation
 help shade the eyes from direct sunlight

 Eyelids
 protect the eyes from foreign objects
 Blinking, which normally occurs about 20 times per
minute, also helps keep the eyes lubricated by
spreading tears over the surface.

 Conjunctiva
 a thin, transparent mucous membrane covering the
inner surface of the eyelids and the anterior surface of
the eye
 the secretions of the conjunctiva help lubricate the
surface of the eye
 Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva.

 Lacrimal Apparatus
 consists of a lacrimal gland situated in the superior
lateral corner of the orbit and a nasolacrimal duct and
associated structures in the inferior medial corner of
the orbit
 The lacrimal gland produces a fluid we call tears,
which pass over the anterior surface of the eye.
 Most of the fluid produced by the lacrimal glands
evaporates from the surface of the eye, but excess
tears are collected in the medial angle of the eyes by
small ducts called lacrimal canaliculi.
 These canaliculi open into a lacrimal sac, an
Types of Tastes enlargement of the nasolacrimal duct.
1. Sweet  Tears pass through the nasolacrimal duct into the
2. Sour nasal cavity.
3. Salty  Tears lubricate and cleanse the eye.
4. Bitter  They also contain an enzyme that helps combat eye
5. Umami infections.

 certain taste buds are more sensitive to certain tastes  Extrinsic Eye Muscles
 taste is also linked to smell  each eyeball has six extrinsic eye muscles attached to
Pathways for the Sense of Taste: its surface
 these extrinsic muscles are skeletal muscles and are
responsible for the movement of each eyeball
 Four of these muscles run more or less straight from
their origins in the posterior portion of the orbit to
their insertion sites on the eye, to attach to the four
quadrants of the eyeball.
 They are the superior, inferior, medial, and lateral
rectus muscles. Two muscles, the superior and
inferior oblique muscles, are located at an angle to
the long axis of the eyeball.

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CHAPTER 9: SENSES
3.
Anatomy of the Eye
 The eyeball is a hollow, fluid-filled sphere.
 The wall of the eye-ball is composed of three tissue layers, or
tunics:
1. Fibrous Tunic
 Sclera
 the firm, white, outer connective tissue
layer of the posterior five-sixths of the
fibrous tunic
 helps maintain the shape of the eye,
protects the internal structures, and
provides attachment sites for the extrinsic
eye muscles
 a small portion of the sclera can be seen
as the “white of the eye”
 Cornea
 the transparent anterior sixth of the eye,
which permits light to enter
 as part of the focusing system of the
fibrous tunic, the cornea also bends, or
refracts, the entering light.
2. Vascular Tunic
 The middle tunic of the eye is called the vascular
tunic because it contains most of the blood
vessels of the eye.
 Choroid
 the posterior portion of the vascular tunic
associated with the sclera
 this very thin structure consists of a
vascular network and many melanin-
containing pigment cells, causing it to
appear black
 the black color absorbs light, so that it is
not reflected inside the eye
 Ciliary body
 Anteriorly, the vascular tunic consists of
the ciliary body and the iris.
 continuous with the anterior margin of the
choroid.
 the ciliary body contains smooth muscles
called ciliary muscles, which attach to the
perimeter of the lens by suspensory
ligaments.
 the lens is 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
 it is a contractile structure consisting
mainly of smooth muscle surrounding an
opening called the pupil.
Nervous Tunic
 the innermost tunic and consists of the retina
 the retina covers the posterior five-sixths of the
eye and is composed of two layers: an outer
pigmented retina and an inner sensory retina.
 The pigmented retina, with the choroid, keeps
light from reflecting back into the eye.
 The sensory retina contains photoreceptor cells
as well as numerous interneurons.
 Photoreceptor cells, which include rods and
cones, respond to light.
 Over most of the retina, rods are 20 times more
common than cones.
 Rods can function in dim light because they are
very sensitive, meaning they require lower
levels of light to be stimulated.
 Rods, however, do not provide color vision.
 Cones require much lighter, and they do
provide color vision.
 There are three types of cones, each sensitive to
a different color: blue, green, or red.
 Rod photoreceptors contain a photosensitive
pigment called rhodopsin. Rhodopsin consists
of a protein opsin loosely bound to a yellow
pigment called retinal.
Effects of Light to Rhodopsin
 A person with a vitamin A deficiency may have a
condition called night blindness, characterized by
difficulty seeing in dim light.
 Night blindness can also result from retinal
detachment, which is the separation of the
sensory retina from the pigmented retina.
 Because the rods are more sensitive than the
cones to light, retinal detachment affects vision in
low light to a greater extent than vision in bright
light.
 When the posterior region of the retina is
examined with an ophthalmoscope, two major
features can be observed:
Macula
 a small spot near the center of the
posterior retina.
 in the center of the macula is a small
pit, the fovea centralis, the part of the
retina where light is most focused
when the eye is looking directly at an
object.
Optic disc
 a white spot just medial to the macula,
through which a number of blood
vessels enter the eye and spread over
the surface of the retina.
 contains no photoreceptor cells and
does not respond to light; it is
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CHAPTER 9: SENSES
therefore called the blind spot of the
eye.

Chambers of the Eye

 The interior of the eyeball is divided into three areas, or
chambers: (1) the anterior chamber, (2) the posterior chamber,
and (3) the vitreous chamber.
 The anterior and posterior chambers are located between the
cornea and the lens.
 The iris separates the anterior and the posterior chambers,
which are continuous with each other through the pupil.
 The much larger vitreous chamber is posterior to the lens.
 The anterior and posterior chambers are filled with aqueous
humor, which helps maintain pressure within the eye, refracts
light, and provides nutrients to the inner surface of the eye.
 Aqueous humor is produced by the ciliary body as a blood
filtrate and is returned to the blood through a venous ring that
surrounds the cornea.
 If aqueous humor flow from the eye through the venous ring is
blocked, the pressure in the eye increases, resulting in a
condition called glaucoma. 2. Middle Ear
 Glaucoma can eventually lead to blindness because the fluid  air filled chamber with ossicles
compresses the retina, thereby restricting blood flow through it.  Malleus (hammer)
 The vitreous chamber of the eye is filled with a transparent,  bone attached t tympanic membrane
jellylike substance called vitreous humor.  Incus (anvil)
 The vitreous humor helps maintain pressure within the eye and  bone that connects malleus to stapes
holds the lens and the retina in place.  Stapes (stirrup)
 It also refracts light but unlike the aqueous humor, the vitreous  bone located at base of oval window
humor does not circulate.  Oval window
 separates middle and inner ear
Pathways for the Sense of Vision:  Eustachian or auditory tube
 opens into pharynx
 equalizes air pressure between outside
and middle ear

3. Inner Ear
 set of fluid filled chambers
 Bony labyrinth
 tunnels filled with fluid
 3 regions: cochlea, vestibule, semicircular
canals
 Membranous labyrinth
 inside bony labyrinth
 filled with endolymph
 Endolymph
 clear fluid in membranous labyrinth
 Perilymph
 fluid between membranous and bony
labyrinth
 Cochlea
 snail-shell shaped structure
 where hearing takes place
 Scala vestibuli
 in cochlea
 filled with perilymph
 Scala tympani
 in cochlea
 filled with perilymph
 Cochlea duct
 in cochlea
 filled with endolymph
The Ear  Spiral organ
 the organs of hearing and balance are located in the ears.  in cochlear duct
 each ear is divided into three areas:  contains hair cells
1. External Ear  Tectorial membrane
 extends from outside of head t eardrum  in cochlea
 Auricle  vibrates against hair cells
 fleshy part on outside  Hair cells
 External auditory meatus  attached to sensory neurons that when
 canal that leads to eardrum bent produce an action potential
 Tympanic membrane  Vestibular membrane
 eardrum  wall of membranous labyrinth that lines
 thin membrane that separates external and scala vestibuli
middle ear  Basilar membrane
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CHAPTER 9: SENSES
 wall of membranous labyrinth that lines
scala tympani
Hearing Process
Pathways for the Sense of Hearing:

1. Sound travels in waves through air and is funneled into ear by

auricle.
2. Auricle through external auditory meatus to tympanic
membrane.
3. Tympanic membrane vibrates and sound is amplified by malleus,
incus, stapes which transmit sound to oval window.
4. Oval window produces waves in perilymph of cochlea.
5. Vibrations of perilymph cause vestibular membrane and
endolymph t vibrate.
6. Endolymph cause displacement of basilar membrane.
7. Movement of basilar membrane is detected by hairs in spinal
organ.
8. Hair cells become bent and cause action potential is created.

Balance (Equilibrium)
 Static equilibrium
 associated with vestibule
 evaluates position of head relative to gravity

 Dynamic equilibrium
 associated with semicircular canals
 evaluates changes in direction and rate of head
movement

Balance
 Vestibule
 inner ear
 contains utricle and saccule

 Maculae
 specialized patches of epithelium in utricle and
saccule surround by endolymph
 contains hair cells

 Otoliths
 gelatinous substance that moves in response to
gravity
 attached to hair cell microvilli which initiate action
potentials

 Semicircular canals
 dynamic equilibrium
 sense movement of any direction

 Ampulla
 base of semicircular canal

 Crista ampullaris
 In ampulla

 Cupula
 gelatinous mass
 contains microvilli
 float that is displaced by endolymph movement

Precious Faith Rodriguez