Regina HJ Lee The Sensory System The Nervous System

The Sensory System

A Sensory System is a system which is part of the Nervous System that consists of:

1. Sensory receptors that receive stimuli from the external or internal environment.
2. The neural pathways that conduct information from receptors to the brain or spinal cord.
3. Those parts of the brain that deal primarily with processing the information.

Information that a sensory system processes may or may not lead to conscious awareness of the
stimulus.

- Sensation: When information DOES reach consciousness (eg, feeling pain).

- Perception: Being aware of the sensation and understanding its meaning (eg, awareness that a
tooth hurts).

Sensations and perceptions occur after the CNS modifies or processes sensory information. This
processing can accentuate, dampen or filter sensory information.

Sensory Processing

1. Sensory receptors detect stimulus.

2. Transduction of stimulus energy into graded potentials (receptor potentials) and then into
action potentials in afferent neurons.
3. The pattern of action potentials in particular neurons is a code that provides information about the
stimulus, such as its intensity, location and the specific type of input that is being sensed.
4. Primary sensory areas of the CNS that receive this input then communicate with other regions
of the brain/spinal cord in further processing of the information, which may include
determination of reflexive efferent responses, perception, storage into memory, comparison with
past memories and assignment of emotional significance.

1. SENSORY RECEPTORS (DETECT STIMULUS)

Information about the external world and about the body’s internal environment exists in different
forms – Pressure/Temperature/Light/Smell/Sound waves/Chemical concentrations and so on.

There are 2 kinds of sensory receptors:

(p192 Vanders)

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1. Specialised endings of primary afferent neurons themselves or

2. Separate receptor cells (some of which are actually specialised neurons).

These receptors change external information into graded potentials that can initiate action
potentials which travel into the CNS.

- Stimulus  the energy or chemical that activates a sensory receptor.

- Adequate stimulus  stimulus to which a particular receptor responds in normal functioning.

There are many types of sensory receptors, each of which respond much more readily to one form of
stimulus than to others, as most sensory receptors are exquisitely sensitive to their specific
adequate stimulus, eg some VISUAL receptors can respond to a single photon, the smallest quantity
of light.

Virtually all sensory receptors however, can be activated by different types of stimuli if the intensity
is sufficient, eg, although receptors in the eye usually respond to light, they can be activated by an
intense mechanical stimulus (eg, a poke in the eye).

Regardless of how the receptor is stimulated, any given receptor gives rise to only one sensation eg,
a poke in the eye results in “seeing stars” (sensation of light is still perceived even though the
photoreceptors are stimulated by a mechanical stimulus).

Several general classes of receptors are characterised by the type of stimulus to which they are
sensitive.

Type of Receptor Role

Mechanoreceptor Respond to mechanical stimuli such as touch, pressure, stretch, blood pressure,
muscle tension.

These stimuli alter the permeability of ion channels on the receptor

membrane, changing membrane potential.
Baroreceptor Detect pressure changes.
Mechanoreceptor
Cutaneous Touch.
Mechanoreceptor
Muscle and Joint For movement, knowing where you are in space (being able to touch nose).
Mechanoreceptor
(Proprioceptor)
Tactile receptor Provide the sensations of touch, pressure and vibration.
Mechanreceptor
Chemoreceptor Respond to the binding of particular chemicals to the receptor membrane.
Provides the senses of smell, taste and detects blood pH and oxygen
concentration.
Photoreceptor Respond to particular ranges of light wavelength.
Thermoreceptor Detect sensations of cold or warmth.
Nociceptor Senses pain due to actual/potential tissue damage.
Can be activated by a variety of stimuli such as heat, mechanical stimuli (like
excess stretch) or chemical substances in the extracellular fluid of damaged
tissues.
Neurons of nociceptors are usually unmyelinated.

Myelinated Type A Fibres – carry sensations of fast pain.

Unmyelinated Type C Fibres – carry sensations of slow pain.

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BURN HAND  thermal receptors sense HOT, gets hand away FAST. Nociceptors. Now feel pain
SLOWLY.

2. TRANSDUCTION

Regardless of the original form of the signal that activates sensory receptors, the information must be
translated into the language of graded potentials or action potentials.

Sensory Transduction  the process by which a stimulus is transformed into an electrical

response. Involves the opening/closing of ion channels that receive information about the
external/internal world, either directly or indirectly or through a second messenger system.

The ion channels are present in a specialised region of the receptor membrane located at the distal
tip of the cell’s single axon or on associated specialised sensory cells.

The gating of these ion channels allows a change in ion flux across the receptor membrane known
as a graded potential (called a receptor potential in this case).

In afferent neurons with SPECIALISED RECEPTOR TIPS:

- The receptor membrane region where the initial ion channel changes occur does not generate
action potentials.
- Instead, local current flows a short distance along the axon to a region where the membrane
has voltage-gated ion channels and can generate action potentials.
- In myelinated afferent neurons, this region is usually at the first node of Ranvier.

- The receptor
potential is a graded
response to different stimulus
intensities and diminishes as it
travels along the membrane.

If the receptor membrane is on

a SEPARATE CELL:

- The receptor potential there alters the release of neurotransmitter from that cell.

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- The neurotransmitter diffuses across the extracellular cleft between the receptor cell and the
afferent neuron and binds to receptor proteins on the afferent neuron (thus, this junction is a
synapse).
- The combination of neurotransmitter with its binding sites generates a graded potential in the
afferent neuron,  an Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential or Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potential.

As true of all graded potentials, the magnitude of a receptor potential decreases with distance
from its origin. However, if the amount of depolarisation at the first excitable path of membrane
in the afferent neuron (eg, at the first node of Ranvier) is large enough to bring the membrane to
the threshold, action potentials are initiated, which then propagate along the neuron. As long as
the receptor potential keeps the afferent neuron depolarised to a level AT or ABOVE the threshold,
action potentials continue to fire and propagate along the afferent neuron.

Moreover, an increase in the graded potential magnitude causes an increase in the action potential
frequency in the afferent neuron (up to a limit imposed by the neuron’s Refractory Period) and an
increase in neurotransmitter released at the afferent neuron’s central axon terminal.

Factors that control the MAGNITUDE of the receptor potentials include:

1. Stimulus strength.
2. Rate of change of stimulus strength.
3. Temporal summation of successive receptor potentials.
4. Adaptation.

Although the magnitude of the receptor potential determines the FREQUENCY of action
potentials, it does not determine the AMPLITUDE of these action potentials.

Adaptation

Adaptation  a decrease in receptor sensitivity, which results in a decrease in action potential

frequency in an afferent neuron despite the continuous presence of a stimulus.

Slowly Adapting Receptors

(p194 Vanders)

“Maintain a persistent/slowly decaying receptor potential during a constant stimulus, initiating

action potentials in afferent neurons for the duration of the stimulus”.

These receptors are common in systems sensing parameters that need to be constantly monitored, such
as joint and muscle receptors that participate in the maintenance of steady postures.

Rapidly Adapting Receptors

(p194 Vanders)

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“Rapidly adapting receptors generate a receptor potential and action potentials at the onset of a
stimulus but very quickly cease responding. Adaptation may be so rapid that only a single action
potential is generated. Some rapidly adapting receptors only initiate action potentials at the
onset of a stimulus and again upon its removal – called “on-off responses””.

Important for monitoring sensory stimuli that move/change quickly (like receptors on skin that sense
vibration) and those that persist but do not need to be monitored clearly (like receptors that detect the
pressure of a chair when you sit down).

3. PRIMARY SENSORY CODING

Coding  Conversion of stimulus energy into a signal that conveys the relevant sensory
information to the CNS. Coding begins at the receptive neurons in the PNS.

Sensory Unit  “A single afferent neuron with all its receptor endings makes up a sensory unit. In
a few cases, the afferent neuron has a single receptor, but generally the peripheral end of an afferent
neuron divides into many fine branches, each terminating with a receptor”.

Receptor Field  “The area of the body that leads to activity in a particular afferent neuron
when stimulated is the receptive field for that neuron. Receptive fields of neighbouring afferent
neurons usually overlap so that stimulation of a single point activates several sensory units. Thus,
activation of a single sensory unit almost never occurs”.

Important Characteristics of a Stimulus Include:

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1. The TYPE of input it represents.

2. Its INTENSITY.
3. LOCATION of the body it affects.

Stimulus Type (or “modality”)

Modalities can be divided into submodalities:

Modality Submodality
Temperature Cold/Warmth
Taste Salty/Sweet/Sour

The type of sensory receptor a stimulus activates plays the primary role in coding the stimulus
modality.

A given receptor type is particularly sensitive to one stimulus modality: the adequate stimulus,
because of the signal transduction mechanisms and ion channels incorporated in the receptor’s plasma
membrane eg, Receptors for VISION contain pigment molecules whose shapes are transformed by
light, which in turn alters the activity of membrane ion channels and generates a receptor potential.
In contrast, receptors in the skin do not have light sensitive molecules, so they cannot respond to
light.

All the receptors of a single afferent neuron are preferentially sensitive to one modality. Adjacent
sensory units however, may be sensitive to different types of stimuli. Because receptive fields for
different modalities overlap, a single stimulus, such as an ice cube on the skin, can simultaneously
give rise to the sensations of touch AND temperature.

Stimulus Intensity

(p195 Vanders)

How do we distinguish a strong stimulus from a weak one when the information about both stimuli is
relayed by action potentials that are all the same amplitude?

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The frequency of action potentials.

- Increased stimulus strength means a larger receptor potential, and this in turn leads to more
frequent action potentials.
- As the strength of a local stimulus increases, receptors on adjacent branches of afferent neuron are
activated, resulting in a summation of their local currents.
- In addition to increasing the firing frequency in a single afferent neuron, stronger stimuli usually
affect a larger area and activate similar receptors on the endings of other afferent neurons.
- This “calling in” of receptors on additional afferent neurons is known as RECRUITMENT.
- Eg, When you touch a surface lightly with a finger, the area of skin in contact with the surface is
small and only the receptors in that skin area are stimulated. Pressing down firmly increases the
area of skin stimulated.

Stimulus Location

Stimulus location is coded by the site of a stimulated receptor, as well as by the fact that action
potentials from each receptor travel along unique pathways to a specific region of the CNS
associated only with that particular modality and body location. These distinct anatomical pathways
are known as LABELED LINES.

Mechanisms also exist that allow us to localise distinct stimuli within the receptive field of a single
neuron.

An afferent neuron responds most vigorously to stimuli applied at the centre of its receptive
field because the receptor density (number of receptor endings in a given area) is greatest there.
The response decreases as the stimulus is moved toward the receptive field periphery. Thus, a
stimulus activates more and more receptors and generates more action potentials in its associated
afferent neuron if it occurs at the centre of the receptive field.

(p197 Vanders 7.7)

Thus, a high frequency of impulses in the single afferent nerve fibre could mean that a moderately
intense stimulus was applied to the centre (A) OR a stronger stimulus was applied near the periphery
(B). Therefore, neither the intensity of location of the stimulus can be detected precisely with a
SINGLE afferent neuron.
(p197 Vanders 7.8)

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HOWEVER, because the receptor endings of different afferent neurons overlap, a stimulus will
trigger activity in more than one sensory unit.

Neurons A and C (stimulated near the edges of their receptive fields where the receptor density is
low), fire action potentials less frequently than does neuron B, stimulated at the centre of its
receptive field. A high action potential in neuron B occurring simultaneously with lower frequencies
in A and C provides the brain with a more accurate localisation of the stimulus. Once this
localisation is known, the Brain can interpret the firing of frequency of neuron B to determine
stimulus intensity.

Lateral Inhibition

Lateral Inhibition: An important mechanism enabling the localisation of a stimulus site for
some sensory systems, whereby information from afferent neurons whose receptors are at the
edge of a stimulus is strongly inhibited compared to information from the stimulus centre.

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The afferent neuron in the centre (B) has a higher initial firing frequency than do the neurons on
either side (A and C). The number of action potentials transmitted in the lateral pathways is further
decreased by inhibitory inputs from inhibitory interneurons stimulated by the central neuron.

Although the lateral afferent neurons (A and C) also exert inhibition on the central pathway, their
lower firing frequency has a smaller inhibitory effect on the central pathway. Thus, lateral inhibition
enhances the CONTRAST between the centre and the periphery of a stimulated region, thereby
increasing the brain’s ability to localise a sensory input.

Lateral inhibition is utilized to the greatest degree in the pathways providing the most accurate
localisation eg, within the retina of eyes, creating amazing sharp visual acuity.

4. CENTRAL CONTROL OFAFFERENT INFORMATION

Sensory information is processed at each synapse along the afferent pathways and at many levels of
the CNS, with the more complex stages receiving input only after the more elementary systems
have processed the information.

All sensory signals are subject to extensive modification at the various synapses along the sensory
pathways before they reach higher levels of the CNS. This hierarchical processing of afferent
information along individual pathways is an important organisational feature of sensory systems.

Inhibition from other ascending neurons (eg, lateral inhibition) REDUCES or even ABOLISHES
much of the incoming information, as can inhibitory pathways descending from higher centres in the
brain.

The Reticular Formation and Cerebral Cortex in particular, control the input of afferent
information via descending pathways. The inhibitory controls may be exerted directly by synapses
on the axon terminals of the primary afferent neurons (an example of presynaptic inhibition) or
indirectly via interneurons that affect other neurons in the sensory pathways.

Overall, sensory information that reaches the brain is significantly modified from the basic
signal originally transduced into action potentials at the sensory receptors.

SPECIFIC SENSORY SYSTEMS

Somatic Sensation

Somatic sensation from the skin, skeletal muscles, bones, tendons and joints is initiated by a variety of
sensory receptors collectively called somatic receptors.

Activation of somatic receptors gives rise to the sensations of touch, pressure, awareness of the
position of the body parts and their movement, temperature and pain.

Touch and Pressure

Stimulation of different types of mechanoreceptors in the skin leads to a wide range of touch and
pressure experiences.

The mechanoreceptors are highly specialised neuron endings encapsulated in elaborate cellular
structures. In general, the neuron endings are linked to networks of collagen fibres within a capsule

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that is often filled with fluid. These networks transmit the mechanical tension in the fluid-filled
capsule to ion channels in the neuron endings and activate them.

The skin mechanoreceptors adapt at different rates. Some adapt rapidly, firing only when the stimulus
is changing. Others adapt more slowly.

Activation of rapidly adapting receptors gives rise to the sensations of touch, movement and vibration,
whereas slowly adapting receptors give rise to the
sensation of pressure.

Meisner’s Rapidly Adapting Touch and Pressure

Corpuscle Mechanoreceptor
Merkel’s Slowly Adapting Touch and Pressure
Corpuscle Mechanoreceptor
Pacinian Rapidly Adapting Vibration and Deep
Corpuscle Mechanoreceptor Pressure
Ruffini Slowly Adapting Skin Stretch
Corpuscle Mechanoreceptor
Free Slowly Adapting
neuron Nociceptor/Therm
ending oreceptor/Mechan
oreceptor

Posture and Movement

Major receptors responsible for these senses are the

muscle-spindle stretch receptors and Golgi tendon
organs. These mechanoreceptors occur in skeletal muscle
and the fibrous tendons that connect them to bone.

Muscle spindle stretch receptors respond both to the

absolute magnitude of muscle stretch and to the rate at
which the stretch occurs. Golgi tendon organs monitor
muscle tension.

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