SPECIAL SENSES: (Visual, Auditory, Vestibular, Olfaction, Taste)

EXERCISE NO. 15

A. VISUAL SENSE

GIO I: To study the different parts of the eyeball

SIO: 1. Draw and label the different parts of the eyeball.

2. Describe the different coats of the eyeball.

- The eye has three main layers. These layers lie flat against each other and form the eyeball. The outer
layer of the eyeball is a tough, white, opaque membrane called the sclera (the white of the eye). The
slight bulge in the sclera at the front of the eye is a clear, thin, dome-shaped tissue called the cornea.

GIO II: To study the visual pathway

SIO: 1. Give the receptors for visual pathway.

-The visual pathway begins with photoreceptors in the retina and ends in the visual cortex of the
occipital lobe. The photoreceptors are cells of two types: rods and cones. Rods play a special role in
peripheral vision and in vision under low light conditions.

2. Trace the visual pathway from the retina to the cortex

3. Enumerate the different visual defects arising from injury at different levels of the visual pathway

- Patients may report monocular or binocular blurred, blank, dim, dark, or sparkling vision. Optic nerve
damage may be accompanied by swollen optic disc. Unilateral or asymmetric optic nerve damage
produces afferent pupil defect. Lesions of optic nerve produce nerve fiber bundle visual field defects.

B. AUDITORY SENSE

GIO: To study the auditory pathway.

SIO: 1. Draw and label the different parts of the ear.

2. Give the receptor for the auditory pathway.

- Within the cochlea, mechanical energy converts to electrical energy by auditory receptor cells ( hair
cells). This conversion occurs within the cochlea of the inner ear. It houses mechanical receptor cells: 3
rows of outer hair cells and one row of inner hair cells.

3. Give the termination of the auditory pathway

- The auditory areas of both hemispheres is well interconnected by commissural fibers. The parent cells
correspond to pyramidal neurons in layer V in the auditory cortex. These neurons terminate in the
medial geniculate body and in the paracentral nuclei of the inferior colliculus
4. Give the types of deafness.

-Hearing loss affects people of all ages and can be caused by many different factors. The three basic
categories of hearing loss are sensorineural hearing loss, conductive hearing loss and mixed hearing loss.

5. Give the tests to distinguish conduction deafness from sensorineural deafness.

- Rinne and Weber tests are exams that test for hearing loss. They help determine whether you may
have conductive or sensorineural hearing loss. This determination allows a doctor to come up with a
treatment plan for your hearing changes. A Rinne test evaluates hearing loss by comparing air
conduction to bone conduction.

C.VESTIBULAR SENSE

GIO: To study the vestibular pathway

SIO:

1. Draw and label the parts of the inner ear or labyrinth concerning with vestibular sense.

2. Give the receptors for vestibular sense and its corresponding stimulus.

- The vestibular receptors lie in the inner ear next to the auditory cochlea. They detect rotational motion
(head turns), linear motion (translations), and tilts of the head relative to gravity and transduce these
motions into neural signals that can be sent to the brain.

3. Enumerate the vestibular nuclei.

- There are four 2nd order vestibular nuclei: the inferior, medial, lateral (Deiter's) and superior vestibular
nuclei. All four nuclei are found beneath the floor of the fourth ventricle in the medulla and pons, lateral
to the sulcus limitans.

4. Give the cranial nerves involved in the ascending fibers of the vestibular pathway.

- Ascending fibers from the superior and medial vestibular nuclei go to the motor nuclei of the
oculomotor, trochlear, and abducens cranial nerves which supply the muscles of the eyes. This pathway
also mediates the vestibule-ocular reflex in which eye movements are adjusted automatically for
changes in head position.

D.OLFACTORY SENSE

GIO: To learn about the sense of smell SIO:

1. Give the receptor for olfaction.

- Olfactory receptor, also called smell receptor, protein capable of binding odour molecules that plays a
central role in the sense of smell (olfaction). The cilia are covered by the mucus of the nasal cavity,
facilitating the detection of and response to odour molecules by olfactory receptors.

2. Give the location of transmission of the sense of olfaction in the brain.

- The Olfactory Cortex is the portion of the cerebral cortex concerned with the sense of smell. It is part
of the Cerebrum. It is a structurally distinct cortical region on the ventral surface of the forebrain,
composed of several areas. It includes the piriform lobe and the hippocampal formation .

3. Give the cranial nerve involved in the sense of olfaction

- The olfactory nerve is the first cranial nerve (CN I). It is a sensory nerve that functions for the sense of
smell. Olfaction is phylogenetically referred to as the oldest of the senses.

4. Define anosmia.

- If you lose your sense of smell, you'll miss more than a variety of scents. Without a good sense of smell,
you may find that food tastes bland and it's hard to tell different foods apart. Loss of smell can be partial
(hyposmia) or complete (anosmia), and may be temporary or permanent, depending on the cause.

E. GUSTATORY SENSE

GIO: To learn about the sense of taste

SIO: 1. Give the receptors for taste.

- Taste receptors of the tongue are present in the taste buds of papillae. When food or other substances
enter the mouth, molecules interact with saliva and are bound to taste receptors in the oral cavity and
other locations. Molecules which give a sensation of taste are considered "sapid".

2. Enumerate the 4 types of papillae.

- The dorsal surface of the mammalian tongue is covered with four kinds of papillae, fungiform,
circumvallate, foliate and filiform papillae. With the exception of the filiform papillae, these types of
papillae contain taste buds and are known as the gustatory papillae.

3. Give the innervation for taste sensation on the anterior 2/3 of the tongue. On the posterior 1/3 of the
tongue

- Taste to the anterior two-thirds of the tongue is achieved through innervation from the chorda
tympani nerve, a branch of the facial nerve (CN VII). General sensation to the anterior two-thirds of the
tongue is by innervation from the lingual nerve, a branch of the mandibular branch of the trigeminal
nerve (CN V3).

4. Give the 4 basic modalities of taste and the particular regions of the tongue they are most acutely
sensed.

- The gustatory system is much simpler than the olfactory system. Four primary taste submodalities are
generally recognized: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. The tip of the tongue is the most sensitive to
sweetness and saltiness.

Give the termination of the sense of taste.

- "Both the initiation and termination steps contribute to how we sense and perceive tastes." ... There
were no changes for salty and sour tastes. The Serca3 protein functions as a calcium pump. It helps to
terminate bitter taste signals by removing calcium from the cell, which then causes the cell to stop
signaling.