Sense Sensory Receptors  it receives information on pain, itch,  They will detect deep pressure, vibration

 is the ability to perceive stimuli ✓ to receive these stimuli in our central nervous temperature and movement and position.
system, the stimulus needs to be detected by b. Thermoreceptors
Sensation or Perception our sensory receptors.  it will detect cold temperature and hot
 is the consciousness awareness of stimuli temperatures
perceived by our sensory receptors Specialized Cells for the Different Types of  For the cold, the receptors stop responding
 when sensory receptors receive stimuli, it will Stimuli to temperatures below 12˚C, these
send action potentials to the specific part of receptors are the Krause end bulb
the brain to be processed a. Mechanoreceptors
 which respond to bending and stretching c. Ruffini Corpuscles
 once it's integrated in our specific parts of the
b. Chemoreceptors  For the heat, ruffini corpuscles. They
brain, it will send effect or will send signals to
detect increasing temperature, but stop
the effector organ.  which will respond to chemicals above 47˚C
c. Photoreceptors  Very cold and very hot temperatures are Pain
Senses in the Body  Which will respond to light detected by different receptors, detected ✓ PAIN is a group of unpleasant perceptual
d. Thermalreceptors by pain receptors already. and emotional experiences
 Responds to the change in temperature  It does not only detect heat stimuli, it also ✓ Pain could range from muscular pain, from
General Senses Special Senses e. Nociceptors detects continuous pressure in the skin. sitting too long, to emotional pain after
 Responds to stimuli resulting to pain d. Touch Receptors could either be: Encapsulated experiencing or watching a series.
Somatic Senses Smell (enclosed in capsule) or not Two Types of Pain
▪ Our general senses include touch, pressure,
- for sensory e. Merkel Disks
pain, temperature, vibration, itch and
information in the Taste  detects light touch and pressure
body
proprioception
▪ PROPRIOCEPTION is the position sense in f. Hair Follicle Receptors
Sight the space  They are associated with hair
Visceral Senses ▪ The receptors for all these general senses can  They detect light touch
- For sensory be found in our tendons, ligaments, muscles,  These two receptors for light touch are
information about Hearing
but many of them are found in our skin sensitive but they can’t precisely pinpoint
the internal where the stimulus is.
organs about the Balance g. Meissner Corpuscles
viscera Eight Major Types of Sensory Receptors,
 for discriminative touch, in order to know
Differing in their Structure where to locate the stimulus
Primarily for pain a. Free Nerve Endings h. Pacinian Corpuscles
and pleasure
 are the simplest and most common  Deeply associated with our tendons and
 they are distributed almost at all parts of joints
the body
a. Fast Pains
 Localized, sharp, prickling or cutting thing
from rapidly conducting pain potentials
b. Slow Pains
 Diffused, burning or aching pain resulting
from more slowly conducted action
potentials.
• MYELIN SHEATH wraps around the axons
of nerves to make the nerve conduction faster
o The nerves or the axons of the nerves
conducting fast pain, have myelin sheath
o The axons of the nerves conducting slow
pain, don’t have myelin sheath
a) Superficial Pain
 highly localized
 can easily be pinpointed where the source
come from
 Example: Your sibling pinches you in the
cheeks
b) Deep Pain
 Internally or the visceral, pain is diffused
because of the absence of a lot of receptors
that could help in locating or localizing
where the source is.
 when internal organs or the viscera are
damaged or injured we feel or sense
referred pain.
 REFERRED PAIN is feeling pain in
another are rather than the source, it’s
because the nerves are connectedly wired
or there is a connection
o When an organ is injured or damaged,
the nerve that is deep in the body will
detect the pain and it will send action
potential or signal also to its superficial
part.
 Superficial pain beats deep in sending
signal to the brain, because it’s more highly
localized. When the superficial part wins the
brain, the brain will process it as pain in
that area or that superficial area.
o Example: People who have heart problems
✓ How do we close the gate so that the pain
c) Suppress Pain
 Example: If you have a headache, taking
painkillers
 Anesthesia used in treatments:
 Local Anesthesia
- the suppression of pain signals is only in
a localized area
- Example: tooth extraction
 General Anesthesia
- Where a person losses consciousness
because there is a part of the brainstem
that is affected, this part is for
consciousness and arousal which is the
reticular formation
Gate Control Theory of Pain
✓ The opening and closing of the gate could help
in controlling the amount of pain.
✓ Usual pathway, example:
o A person accidentally hit his/her thumb,
pain receptors in the thumb will send
pain signals to the spinal cord via lateral
spinothalamic tract, it's going to send
signals to the brain. That’s because the
gate in the spinal cord was open or the
passageway was not blocked
signals cannot pass to the brain?
o The nerves that conduct the action
potentials for other sensations, the
touch, the pressure, the vibration have a
larger diameter
▪ if the nerves have a larger diameter
they conduct action potentials faster.
o If the touch, pressure and vibration are
faster, it perceives the brain first rather
than the pain signals because they are
larger than the nerves for pain.
o The nerves for the other sensations, the
touch, pressure, vibration release
neurotransmitters in the spinal cord to
close or block the gate for pain
o Painful sensation can be reduced by non-
painful sensation
Special Senses
Sense of Smell
 also called olfaction
 The stimuli called odorants, which will
enter the nasal cavity, these are the
airborne molecules
 The odorants enter the nasal cavity and
will get trapped in the mucus and will
dissolve in there.
o This mucus is from the cilia of dendrites
of the olfactory neurons which is
located in the olfactory epithelium,
which is at the superior part of the
nasal cavity
o This mucus will also keep the nasal
epithelium moist and will facilitate
removal of particles
 The odorant dissolves in the mucus then it's
going to bind to the receptors on the cilia,
which will then initiate action potentials
received by the dendrites to the cell body
then to their axons.
 These axons pass through the bone called
the cribriform plate
 After the cribriform plate it will enter the
oil factory bulb, there the nerve would
synapse with an interneuron
 The interneuron will then relay the action
potential through the olfactory tract
 which will then relay to the olfactory
cortex
o Olfactory Cortex is part of the
frontal and temporal lobe of the brain
✓ Only olfaction is the major sensation that
does not pass the major relay station of
the brain, the thalamus. It is directly
to the cortex, the pathways taken by the
olfactory nerve impulses and the areas
where these impulses are interpreted in
our cortex, are closely associated with the
limbic system
✓ Limbic system is important for memory
and emotions.
o That is why we associate
remembering or having long lasting
memories with certain smells
o When a scent is new, it usually
catches our attention, wither it
disgusts us or we like it.
▪ If there is long exposure to that
scent, it doesn’t smell as strong as
it used to be because we adapted
to it.
o A person has at least 400 functional
olfactory receptors
▪ Each receptor could bind to
different types of odorant or each
type of odorant can bind to
multiple receptors
▪ It binds to this different
combinations of receptors,
different smells are different
combinations and there are about
10 000 varying shots
▪ Once an odorant binds to a
receptor, this receptor becomes
desensitized or less sensitive and
won't respond to another older
molecule for some time.
▪ There are also feedback loops in
our bodies that will inhibit
transmission of action potentials
from a prolonged exposure
because of product exposure,
action potentials are inhibited,
another reason why we adapt to
certain smells.
▪ Regarding initiation of action
potentials, the threshold is low,
even very few odorants can
initiate them.
❖ Example: Dogs, their degree of
sensitivity is higher, that's why
they help in detecting
chemicals or explosives.
Sense of Taste
 These three cranial nerves will then synapse
with the taste nuclei in the brainstem then
after the brainstem, the signals will synapse
in the thalamus, the major relay station of the
brain.
 Then the nerve will then send it to the insula
then here we could perceive taste.
 The receptors are the taste buds that are
located in enlargements of our thumb
called the papillae
 They are also found in other areas of the
mouth and pharynx
 Each taste bud has two types of cell at its
exterior capsule, there are specialized
epithelial cells and in the interior.
 In the interior, there are 40 taste cells,
each taste cell has taste pairs that extend
into an opening called the taste pore, Primary Types of Taste
which have taste hairs.
 Dissolve molecules or ions, bind to the
receptor on the taste hairs that will
initiate sensory action potentials
transmitted via three cranial nerves.
o Cranial Nerve VII or facial nerve
for the taste of the anterior 2/3 of the
tongue
o Cranial Nerve IX or
Glossopharyngeal nerve for the
posterior 1/3 of the tongue
o Cranial nerve x or vagus nerve
which is for the taste of the root of the ✓ All taste buds can detect all types of taste,
tongue but is most sensitive to only one type
✓ Taste sensations are divided into five basic
types:
 Sweet
 Sour
 Bitter
 Salty
 Umami (Japanese Savory Taste)
✓ We can perceive many tastes because it's
from the combination interaction with the
sense of smell, this is why we have decreased
taste sensation when we have colds.
Sense of Sight
 “vision”
 Eyes is the main organ involved, however
it also has structures that protect,
lubricate and move the eyes
Accessory Structures of the Eyes
e) Lacrimal Apparatus
a) Eyebrows
o it protects the eyes by preventing the
entry of sweat from the foreheads
o It also helps in shading the eyes from
direct sunlight
b) Eyelids (Upper & Lower)
o Which closes if there are sudden
objects that approach the eyes
c) Eyelashes
o Attached on the eyelids
o It helps in keeping foreign materials
out of the eyes
o A person normally blinks 20 times per
minute, this is to lubricate the eyes
d) Conjunctiva
o which is the thin transparent mucus
membrane in the inner eyelid on the
anterior eye
o situations in the conjunctiva help in
the lubrication of the eye
o if there is inflammation caused by
bacteria it's called conjunctivitis
o At the supra or superolateral border
of the orbit
o It has lacrimal gland, that produces
the tears - which also help in
lubrication, cleansing and protection
of the eyes
o The tears created by the lacrimal
gland will then pass at the anterior
eye and then will evaporate them,
but excess tears will get collected at
the medial angle called the lacrimal
canaliculi, which opens to the lacrimal
sac that is the enlargement of the
nasolacrimal duct at the inferomedial
corner of the orbit and will drain
down the duct
o once it drains down the nasolacrimal
duct, it's going to empty into the
nasal cavity.
o That is why you can smell the
medications out un the eyes, like
eyedrops
f) Extrinsic muscles
o controlled by three cranial nerves:
▪ Cranial Nerve III – Oculomotor
▪ Cranial Nerve IV – Trochlear Nerve
▪ Cranial Nerve VI – Abducens
Nerves
o Four Muscles that are straight in
shape:
▪ Medial Rectus
▪ Lateral Rectus
▪ Inferior Rectus
▪ Superior rectus
✓ Helps in moving the eye up and Layers of the Eye
down, then left and right
o Muscles that are arranged in an
angle:
▪ Inferior Oblique
▪ Superior Oblique
✓ Which will help us lock
superomedially and
inferomedially.
✓ Example: In a diagonal part like
looking at the tip of the nose,
 The EYEBALL is a hollow fluid filled sphere
and 5/6 of the sphere is in the eye socket
or the body orbit
 If you look into the mirror at the with a lateral
view, you can see that only a small part of the
eye is exposed anteriorly.
 The eyeballs have three layers or tunics.
o Fibrous layer or tunic
- Outer layer
- it is composed of the:
 Sclera
▪ it is the white part of the eye
▪ it is the firm white hard connective
tissue layer at the posterior 5/6 of the
sphere
▪ helps to maintain the shape of the eye
▪ protects the internal structures and is
an attachment for the extrinsic
muscles
 Cornea
▪ It is the anterior 1/6 of this layer is the
cornea
▪ it's the transparent area which
permits and bends light that enters
the eye
▪ This layer is avascular meaning, there
is no blood vessels
o Vascular layer
- Middle layer
- It has most of the blood vessels
 Choroid
▪ It is the posterior part of this layer
▪ It is a very thin structure of vascular
network and it contains many
melanin - containing pigment cells
▪ It gives us the black color. This black
color will absorb light, so that it won't
get reflected in the eyes and so it will
not interfere with our vision
 Ciliary Body
▪ Anteriorly in this layer
▪ This is continuous with the choroid
▪ This contains ciliary muscles – is
connected to the lens via suspensory
ligaments
▪ The lens is a flexible, biconvex
transparent and avascular disk,
meaning no blood vessels
 Iris
▪ is attached to the anterior of the
ciliary body and lens.
▪ This is the colored part of our eye and
it has muscles that will control the
opening, this opening is called the
pupil
▪ We have the smooth muscles, light will
pass through the pupil and it will
trigger the iris to control the amount
of light that will enter the eye.
✓ As light intensity increases, the
pupil will constrict
✓ If the light intensity decreases,
the pupil will dilate
▪ The parasympathetic triggers the
constriction.
▪ This nerve responsible for the in dim light because the rods
constriction of the pupil is the CN III require lesser light to function
or the oculomotor - they're not responsible for
colored vision
- contains photosensitive pigments,
which are called the
rhodopsin.
✓ Rhodopsin is made up of opsin
that is a colorless protein and
retinol which is a yellow pigment
- Since rods are highly light
sensitive, they can breakdown
the rhodopsin into retinal and
o Nervous layer
opsin even in dim lights.
- Inner layer or inner tunic consist of the
➢ Cones
retina
- require more light but they
✓ RETINA is the one that will cover the
provide colored vision.
posterior 5/6 of the eye.
- These cones are mostly found at
✓ It has two layers:
the center of the retina.
a) Outer Retina
- Three types of Cones:
→ is the pigmented on, just like the (a) Blue, (b) Green and (c) Red
choroid. ✓ All color combinations we
→ the outer pigmented retina will keep perceive are based on the
the light from reflecting back into different ratio of these three
the eye colors
b) Inner Retina
→ Is the inner sensory retina that
contains interneurons and
photoreceptor cells called rods
and cones
➢ Rods
- are very sensitive to light
- they can function even in dim
light
- they're more on black and white
vision.
- They’re found at the periphery of
the retina, that is why objects
seem to be in shade of grey when
 COLOR BLINDNESS is usually inherited
and is caused by mistakes in the cone’s
pigments.
vi. If it returns on the use of the ATP, it can
✓ Vitamin A is very important for the vision.
→ In many cases, the green sensitive photo
pigment is missing or deficient or the red
sensitive pigment is abnormal.
→ The abnormalities with the blue sensitive
are rare
→ Colorblind people can see color but they
can't distinguish between them normally
i. When the light strikes the rod, the retinal
and opsin change shape. The retinal
dissociates with or from the opsin
ii. The light will cause changes in the
rhodopsin
iii. The retinal will dissociate from the opsin
iv. The retinal will completely separate from
the opsin. This causes action potential in
the rods and it will be sent to the brain
for interpretation. We seen objects in dim
lighting as gray in color
v. To return retinal back to its original
rhodopsin shape, it needs energy from ATP
go back to step #1. Until it goes back to
its original shape, it is unable to respond
to light. It needs energy in order to
activate again.
It can convert into retinal if needed
o if there is excess retinal, it will convert
back to Vitamin A so it will be stored.
o If there is deficiency in Vitamin A, it
might lead to night blindness or
difficulty seeing in dim lighting.
• Another cause for night blindness is
the separation of the inner retina
(sensory retina) from the outer
retina (pigmented retina).
▪ The retinal attachment affects
the periphery of the retina
▪ Retinal detachment will affect
low light vision thus having
night blindness
• The rods and the cones cells synapse with
a bipolar and horizontal cell here in the
sensory retina that will then synapse with
the ganglion cells that converge at the
posterior eye to form the CN II (optic
nerve)
• Then, that optic nerve will then send the
signals to the different parts then to the
brain for processing, so that we could
receive the image that we see.
Two Major Features of the Posterior Retina
a. Macula
 It is a small spot at the center
 its center is a small pit called the fovea
centralis
✓ Fovea Centralis is where light is
most focused on
✓ This area contains cones only
✓ It is also the region with the greatest
ability to discriminate fine images
b. Optic Disk
 Medial to the macula
 Does not contain any cones or rods, only
nerve fibers
 Since there are no cones or no rods, it is
called the blind spot
Cavities of the Eye
✓ The eyeball is not a solid sphere it has a large
space or large cavity inside
a. Anterior Cavity
 Lies in front of the lens
 Contains two chambers or two subdivisions
i. Anterior Chamber
 Anterior to the iris but posterior to the
cornea
ii. Posterior Chamber
 Posterior to the iris but anterior to the
lens
 These two chambers have clear watery
fluid called the aqueous humor,
which leaks out of the eye if the eye is
injured
✓ aqueous humor is actively secreted
by the ciliary body
✓ It is also from the passive filtration of the
capillary blood into the posterior
chamber
✓ Then from the posterior chamber, it
moves to the area between the iris and
the lens and it will go to the anterior
chamber
✓ Once it is in anterior chamber, it will then
drain into the canal of Schlemm then into
the small veins
✓ The rate of this fluid entering and
draining out of the eyes must be at the
same rate
✓ There should be a balance in order to
maintain the normal intraocular pressure
✓ If there is any problem, the pressure may
increase above the normal and this
condition is called glaucoma, if left
untreated, it may lead to blindness.
 Normal Pressure: 20-25 mmHg
b. Posterior Cavity
 Is the larger cavity
 it lies behind the lens, suspensory ligament
and ciliary body
 It contains a gelatinous fluid called the
vitreous humor
✓ The aqueous and vitreous fluid helps maintain
the pressure inside the eye or the
intraocular pressure, that will help
prevent the eyeballs from collapsing
Functions of the Lens
a) Refraction
 Bending of light rays
 if the surface is concave, the rays will
diverge
c) Visual Acuity
 if the surface is convex, the rays will
converge
 As light passes through refractive media,
which are the fluids, cornea and lens, the
rays are sufficiently bent to focus on the
retina (focal point, f & p)
b) Accomodation
 Is the ability to change the focus on the
objects depending on their distance
 When the ciliary muscles are relaxed, the
tension in the suspensory ligaments are
high.
 The suspensory ligaments will maintain the
elastic pressure on the perimeter or
around the lens to keep it flat, therefore,
allowing distant vision.
o When an object is brought closer than
2ft. (near vision), the ciliary muscles
will contract via parasympathetic
stimulation.
o The ciliary body is pulled towards the
lens and this reduces the tension on
the ligaments
o Because of the internal elasticity of
the lens, it becomes more convex,
causing greater refracting power that
helps us focus on the nearer or closer
images or objects
 It is the sharpness of visual perception
 This is affected by the focusing ability
efficiency of the retina and proper
function of the visual pathway and the
visual cortex.
 A common way to measure this is the use
of the Snellen chart.
o The subject is asked to identify the
smallest object he/she can see in the
distance of 20ft., the result is a double
number.
o The first number is the distance
between the subject and the test
chart
o The second number or the one below is
the number of feet a person with
normal activity would have to stand to
see the same objects clearly, 20/20 is
the normal
o If a person can see objects at 20ft but
a person with normal vision can see at
a hundred feet, then it's 20/100
Neuronal Pathway for the Sense of Sight
• Rods and Cones will synapse to the optic
nerve, these optic nerves from the right eye
and the left eye will exit through the optic
foramen into the cranial cavity.
• These two optic nerves, right and left, will
then connect with each other at the optic
chiasm
• Then the axons from the medial or nasal part
of each retina will cross the chiasm and
project to the opposite side of the brain
o The lateral side is also called the
temporal side
o The ones in the medial side is the
nasal side
✓ The nasal or medial side will cross, while
the lateral or the temporal ones will not
cross the chiasm
• After the chiasm, the root is through two
optic tracts and then some axons will
terminate in the superior colliculi in the
brainstem for visual reflexes, like turning our
heads to sudden flashes of light
• Other axons will terminate in the thalamus,
then after the thalamus, the neurons there
will then form optic radiation, which will
project into the visual cortex.
o The visual cortex is the occipital of the
brain
✓ Optic nerves, to chiasm, to trap, to
radiation to the occipital lobe.
✓ Visual Field is the image by each eye
o In order for the object would be in
three-dimensional appearance, it
requires both eyes and overlapping of
two visual fields, the right and left
• The medial or the nasal
retina is responsible for the
temporal or lateral vision fields
• The lateral or temporal
retina is responsible for the
medial or visual fields.
Type of Damage or Blindness
(depending on which part of the neuronal pathway is affected)
a. Damage at the Right Optic Nerve
▪ the two fibers the nasal ones and the
temporal ones are both affected
meaning, both of the nasal and
temporal visual fields of the right eye
are damaged
▪ There is ipsilateral monocular
blindness or on the same side
o Right Optic Nerve is Damaged
▪ There is right monocular
blindness
o Left Optic Nerve is Damaged
▪ There will be left monocular
blindness
b. Damage in the Optic Chiasm
o There will be a damage on the nerve that
crossed, which is the nasal retina
o The nasal retina supplies the lateral or
temporal eye fields, meaning, both the
right and left temporal eye fields will be
damaged
 o The condition is called the bi-temporal
(two temporals) hemianopsia or loss of
peripheral vision
c. Damage to the Optic Trap Radiation or Cortex
On One Side
▪ There will be a damage to one nasal
field and one temporal field
▪ If it is the right radiation/cortex/tract
✓ There will be a problem with the left
side, it's the right nasal and the left
temporal, both left sides of the eye
✓ The damage is either right optic
tract/right optic radiation/right
occipital cortex
✓ This condition is called the
contralateral
homonymous hemianopsia,
meaning the opposite side is
damaged
o If the right was damaged, there is a left
homonymous hemianopsia
▪ In any parts of the pathway, the
damaged ones will be the one in orange,
the one in dark blue is the lateral retina
➢ The lateral retina will supply
the medial visual eye field, it will have
a problem
➢ The orange is the medial retina, it will
supply the left temporal visual eye
field, the problem will be that one
➢ There is a problem in the left side of
both of the eyes
o If the left optic tract/ radiation/ chiasm
was damaged, there is a right
homonymous hemianopsia
▪ It is also contralateral, meaning it’s the
opposite
Visual Disorders on Focus and Alignment
a. DOUBLE VISION or DIPLOPIA
b. MYOPIA or NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS
 Ability to see objects that are close but not
distant objects
c. HYPEROPIA or FARSIGHTEDNESS ✓ All of these parts are for hearing, only
 Ability to see distant but not close objects inner ear is for the balance functions.
d. ASTIGMATISM External Ear
 When the cornea or the lens is not ❖ Auricle
uniformly curved, the image is not sharply - It is the part that we see and touch
focused - It is responsible for collecting sound
 Sometimes people with astigmatism can wave
see shadows on the objects ❖ Ear Canal or the External Auditory Canal
- Also called External Auditory
Meatus
- The sound waves collected by the
auricle will travel here
- This canal has hair and wax glands
▪ These wax and glands will produce the
ear wax
▪ These hairs and wax that lines up the
canal will help prevent objects from
reaching the eardrum
❖ Ear Drum or Tympanic Membrane
Sense of Hearing - This separates the external ear from
 Ears the middle ear
o It is for the sense of hearing and sense of Middle Ear
balance  The middle ear is medial to the eardrum
o It is divided into three parts:  There are two openings in the medial side
a. External Ear of the middle ear that will connect the
b. Middle Ear middle ear to the inner ear: oval
c. Inner Ear window and round window
 Three auditory bones or auditory ossicles
picks up the middle ear
o Malleus or the Hammer
o Incus or the anvil
o Stapes or the Stirrups
 These three bones are connected with
each other and the eardrum
o The eardrum is connected to the
malleus, the malleus is connected to the
incus and the incus is connected to the
stapes
 The base of the states is connected to the
oval window
 The vibrations received from the sound
waves in the eardrum will then be
transmitted to the malleus, then
transmitted to the incus, then to the
stapes, then the oval window
 Since the eardrum is larger than the oval
window, the vibrations are stronger or
larger in the eardrum than what the oval
window could handle.
 There are muscles around the three
auditory bones or ossicles to help dampen
the sound waves
 Part of the middle ear is a tube that will
connect the middle ear to the throat, this
tube is called the auditory tube
o The epithelial lining of the middle ear,
the auditory tube and the throat are
extensions of one continuous membrane
✓ That is why, if a person has a sore
throat, it may spread to produce a
middle ear infection called the
otitis media
o This tube (auditory tube) is also
responsible to equalize the pressure
between the ear and the outside ear
✓ Unequal pressure can cause
distortions in the eardrum resulting in
hearing difficulty and pain
➢ When a person changes attitude,
the sounds get muffled and the
eardrum is painful
➢ This is relieved by opening the
auditory tube via yawning,
chewing or swallowing
Inner Ear
 It has interconnecting tunnels, called the
labyrinth.
 Bony Labyrinth, inside is a smaller
membranous labyrinth which is filled with
fluid called endolymph
 the space between the bony and
membranous labyrinth has a fluid called
perilymph
 the bony labyrinth is then divided into:
 Cochlea – for hearing
 Vestibule
 Semicircular Canals
For balance
❖ Cochlea
- A snail shaped structure
- The cochlea is divided into three channels:
 Scala Vestibular – which extends from
the oval window to the apex of the
cochlea. The wall that lines the Scala
vestibuli is the vestibular
membrane
 Scalar Tympani- which extends in
parallel with the vestibuli from the
apex back to the round window. The
wall that lines the Scala tympani is the
basilar membrane
✓ These two are filled with fluid called the
perilymph
 Cochlear Duct – which is filled with
another type of fluid, called
endolymph. Inside this is the
spiral organ or the organ of
corti
✓ The organ of corti has the hair cells
called the stereocilia.
• These hair cells or stereocilia don’t
have their axons but they are
associated with axons or axon
terminals of sensory neurons, whose
bodies are in the cochlear or spiral
ganglion (transmits messages or
detected stimuli to the cell bodies in
the spiral ganglion)
• These axons join to form the cochlear
nerve, which will then connect or join
to the vestibular nerve and together
they will form the
Vestibulocochlear Nerve or
the CN VIII
• After, it will then carry action
potentials to the brain
Pathway for Sound
 The sounds are collected by the auricle which
will then pass through
 Sound waves will pass through the ear canal
and will cause vibrations in our eardrum
 It will then cause the middle ear bones to
vibrate as well: malleus, incus and stapes
 The stapes is connected to the oval windows
 The oval window will then produce vibration,
this vibration will cause the perilymph of the
cochlea to have waves
 The waves in the perilymph will cause the
vestibular membrane to feel the vibrations,
causing vibrations in the endolymph as well
 This will cause movement in the basilar
membrane. The basilar membrane also has
the stereocilia, because of this vibration, the
stereocilia will move or bend.
 This will stimulate the action potentials for
the cochlear nerve to be passed to the
cochlear nucleus, then into the brain stem,
then to the inferior collection line of the
midbrain, then to the thalamus and relay
station and into the auditory cortex
✓ Some neurons will also project from the
inferior colliculus to the superior colliculus
or colliculi.
✓ That is why, we turn to where sudden
noises come from
 There are differences in the sounds a person
hear
✓ Sounds with higher pitches, causes
maximum distortion of the basilar
membrane near the oval window
✓ Low pitches, cause maximum distortion
near the apex of the cochlea
 Three Types of Hearing Impairment
1) Conductive Hearing Loss
- Occurs when sound conduction is impeded
or it has a problem through the external
ear, middle ear or both the external and
middle ear
- If there are mechanical deficiencies like
damage in the ligaments, it will/can cause
this condition
2) Neural Hearing Loss
- This occurs when there is a problem within
the cochlea or the neural pathway to the
auditory cortex
3) Mixed Hearing Loss
- Wherein a person has both conductive and
sensory neural hearing loss
Ears for Balance
 The inner ear is responsible for that
 The inner ear has the vestibule, which is
composed of two chambers: Utricle and
Saccule
 Each chamber will contain patches of
macula, which are surrounded by the fluid
endolymph
 This macula also has hair cells and the tips
of the hair cells are embedded in gelatinous
otolithic membrane, which contains otoliths
✓ otoliths are ear stones composed
of calcium and protein
 when these otoliths move in response to
movement, it will cause the hair cells to
bend
 movement in the hair cells will cause
action potentials that will be carried by
the neurons unto the vestibular nerve
 the vestibular nerve will join with the
cochlear nerve to form the
vestibulocochlear nerve then to the brain.
 this vestibule for utricle and saccule, is the
organ for the static equilibrium or
balance.
 It involves the evaluation of our head
positions relative to gravity.
▪ If the heads are aligned in vertical or
it is upside down
Dynamic Balance
 It has three semicircular canals which are
responsible to detect rate and direction
of the hands movements unlike the
vestibule, which is for static balance.
 it's more on head positions relative to
gravity
 It has three canals, each are at right
angles to one another, so a person could
detect movements in different directions
 at the base of the canals it has
enlargements in the ampulla, called the
crista ampullaris
 The crista ampullaris will have a
gelatinous matrix called the cupula
 The cupula is sort of similar to the one
from the vestibule
o there are also hair cells here called
the crystal hair cells, which is
embedded in the copula
o this is similar to the macula of the
vestibule, except that there are no
otoliths to weigh it down, so it floats.
o When there is head movement, the
copula would move the opposite
direction, because there are no
otoliths to weigh it down or pull it
with gravity.
o When there is movement of the head
in the copula, the endolymph will
move to catch up and this will cause
the copula to be displaced to the
direction of the movement or same
direction, because the endolymph will
also move
o movement of the copula will then
cause the hair cells to bend, when the
hair cells bend this will create action
potentials, for the vestibular nerve to
send to the brain
 Action potentials will pass the vestibular
nerve that will later join the cochlear
nerve to be the vestibulocochlear nerve
or CN VIII, that will then project to the
vestibular nucleus of the brainstem and
then iw will send signals to axons that will
run to the different CNS areas like the
cerebral cortex and the cerebellum
 Balance and equilibrium involve a
condition called the motion sickness
o Motion sickness is when there is
a conflicting stimulus from the
semicircular canals’ vs the eyes vs the
position receptors in the limbs or
joints
o When a person has a motion sickness,
closing the eyes or looking at distant
objects can help because if a person
closes his/her eyes, one of the sources
of information is eliminated.
o Eliminating one of the sources of
information, example closing the eyes;
the brain will have less conflicting
input.
o If there is less conflicting input to
compare with one another, it will
reduce the probability of motion
sickness, because a person can
perceive
more
motion
in close
objects
than in
distant
objects
 Aging Effects o There will also be a decreased ability in
understanding sounds, that could lead to
 Skin Receptors disorientation of the individual.
o Free nerve endings and the hair follicle o The inner ear will also have changes,
receptors, remain unchanged wherein the hair cells and the otoliths will
o Meissner corpuscles and the Pacinian decline and there will be a decreased
corpuscles will decline in function sensitivity to head position and movement
▪ The ability to detect position, tension of the head, that may also lead to this
and muscle length is affected, which equilibrium
will eventually affect the balance and ▪ which is why older people are prone to
everyday activities false.
▪ This puts elderly people at risk of
injuries
 Smell or Sense of Smell
o There is only a slight loss
 Sense of Taste
o The sensory receptors for taste will
decrease and the brain's ability to
interpret taste sensations will also decrease
 Sense of Sight or Vision
o Presbyopia is a common age-related
change in the eyes, wherein the lenses will
have a decrease in the ability to change
shape
o During aging, the cones will decrease in
number, the visual acuity and color vision
will decline
o There is also a condition called cataract
which is the clouding of the lens, which is a
result of aging or infection or trauma.
▪ Cataract is the most common cause of
blindness in the world
 Sense of Hearing
o The age-related sensory neural hearing loss
is presbycusis.
▪ Presbycusis does not occur equally on
both ears
▪ There will be a decreased ability in
locating sounds