VIII.

SENSES
SENSATION

 Sense – is the ability to perceive stimuli. The sense means by which the brain receives information about the environment and the
body.
 Sensation – is the process initiated by stimulating sensory receptors and perception is the conscious awareness of those stimuli.
 Historically, five senses were recognized: smell, taste, sight, hearing, and touch. Today we recognize many more senses and
divided them into two basic groups: the general senses and special senses.
 The general senses have receptors distributed over a large part of the body. They are divided into two groups: the somatic senses
and the visceral senses.
 The somatic senses provide sensory information about the body and the environment.
 The visceral senses provide information about various internal organs, primarily involving pain and pressure.
SENSORY RECEPTORS

 Sensory receptors are sensory nerve endings or specialized cells capable of responding to stimuli by developing action
potentials. Several types of receptors are associated with both the general and the special sense, and each responds to a different
type of stimulus:
 Mechanoreceptors respond to mechanical stimuli, such as the bending or stretching of receptors
 Chemoreceptors respond to chemicals, such as odor molecules
 Photoreceptors respond to light
 Thermoreceptors respond to temperature changes
 Nociceptors respond to stimuli that result in the sensation of pain
GENERAL SENSES
 The general sense have sensory receptors that are widely distributed from the body. The general senses include the senses of
touch, pressure, pain, temperature, vibration, itch, and proprioception, which is the sense of movement and position of the body
and limbs.
 Structurally, the simplest and most common receptors are free nerve endings, which are relatively unspecialized neuronal
branches similar to dendrites.
 Receptors for temperature are either cold receptors or warm receptors. Cold receptors, respond to decreasing temperature but
stop responding at temperature of 12˚C (54˚F) Warm receptors, respond to increasing temperature but stop responding at
temperature above 47˚C (117˚F)
 Touch receptors are structurally more complex that free nerve endings, and many are enclosed by capsules. There are several
types of touch receptors.
 Merkel disks - are small, superficial nerve endings involved in detecting light touch and superficial pressure
 Hair follicle - receptors, associated with hairs are also involved in detecting light touch
 Receptors for fine, discriminative touch, called Meissner corpuscles are located just deep to the epidermis.
 Deeper tactile receptors, called Ruffini corpuscles play an important role in detecting continuous pressure in the skin.
 The deepest receptors are associated with tendons and joints and called Pacinian corpuscles. These receptors relay information
concerning deep pressure, vibration and position (proprioception).

PAIN
 Pain is characterized by a group of unpleasant perceptual and emotional experiences. There are two types of pain sensation: (1)
localized, sharp, picking, or cutting pain and (2) diffuse, burning, or aching pain resulting from action potentials that are
propagated more slowly.

REFFERED PAIN
 Is perceived to originate in a region of the body that is not the source of the pain stimulus. Most commonly, we sense referred
pain when deeper structures, such as internal organs, are damaged or inflamed.
SPECIAL SENSES

 The sense of smell, taste, sight, hearing and balance are associated with very specialized, localized sensory receptors.
 The sensation of smell and taste are closely related, both structurally and functionally and both are initiated by the interaction of
chemicals with sensory receptors. The sense of vision is initiated by the interaction of light with sensory receptors. Both hearing
and balance function in response to the interaction of mechanical stimuli with sensory receptors. Hearing occurs in response to
sound waves, and balance occurs in response to gravity or motion.
OLFACTION
 Sense of smell, called olfaction occurs in response airborne molecule, called odorants, that enter the nasal cavity.
 Sensory neurons are bipolar neurons within the olfactory epithelium, which lines the superior part of the nasal cavity.
 The dendrites of the olfactory neurons extend in the epithelial surface, and their ends are modified with long specialized cilia that lie in a thin
mucous film on the epithelial surface.
 The mucus keeps the nasal epithelium moist, traps and dissolves airborne molecules, and facilitates the removal of molecules and particles
from the nasal epithelium.

NEURONAL PATHWAYS OF OLFACTION

 Axons from olfactory neurons from the olfactory nerves (cranial nerve I) which pass through foramina of the cribriform plate
and enter the olfactory bulb. There they synapse with interneurons that relay action potentials to the brain through the olfactory
tracts.
 Each olfactory tract terminates in an area of the brain called the olfactory cortex, located within the temporal and frontal lobes.
 Olfaction is the only major sensation that is relayed directly to the cerebral cortex without first passing through the thalamus.
 This feedback, plus the temporary decreased sensitivity at the level of the receptors, results in adaption to a given odor.

TASTE
 The sensory structures that detect taste stimuli are the taste buds. Taste buds are the oval structures located on the surface of
certain papillae, which are the enlargements on the surface of the tongue.
 Taste buds consist of two types of cells: specialized epithelial cells form the exterior supporting capsule of each taste bud, and the
interior consists of about 40 taste cells.
 Each taste cell contains hairlike processes, called taste hairs, that extend into a tiny opening in the surrounding stratified
epithelium, called a taste pore.
I. THE EYE AND VISION
I. THE EYE AND VISION
 The visual system includes the eyes, the accessory structures, and sensory neurons. The eyes are housed within body cavities
called orbits. Action potentials convey visual information from the eyes to the brain.

ACCESSORY STRUCTURES OF THE EYE

 Accessory structures protect, lubricate, and move the eye. They include the eyebrows, eyelids, conjunctiva, lacrimal apparatus,
and extrinsic eye muscles.
 Eyebrows – protect the eyes by preventing perspiration from running down the forehead and into the eyes, causing irritation.
They also help shade the eyes from direct sunlight.
 Eyelids – protect the eyes from foreign objects
 Conjunctiva – is a thin, transparent mucous membrane covering the inner surface of the eyelids and the anterior surface of the
eye.
 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.
  Lacrimal gland – produces tears, which pass over the anterior surface of the eye.
 Lacrimal canaliculi – excess tears are collected in the medial angle of the eyes by small ducts.
 Most of the fluid produced by 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 enlargement of the nasolacrimal duct, which
opens into the nasal cavity.

 Extrinsic Eye Muscles – movement of the eyeball is accomplished by six skeletal muscles
 rectus muscles – they are the superior, inferior, medial, and lateral
 oblique muscles – two muscles, the superior and inferior. It is located at an angle to the long axis of the eyeball.

ANATOMY OF THE EYE

 Fibrous tunic – the outer, consist of the sclera and cornea:
 sclera – is the firm, white, outer connective tissue layer of the posterior five-sixths.
 cornea – is the transparent anterior sixth of the eye which permits light to enter.
 Vascular tunic – the middle, consists of the choroid, ciliary body and iris:
 choroid – the posterior portion of the vascular tunic, associated with the scelera
  ciliary body – is continuous with the anterior margin of the choroid. The ciliary body contains ciliary muscles, which attach to the perimeter
of the lens by suspensory ligaments. The lens is a flexible, biconvex, transparent disc.
 iris – is the colored part of the eye. It is attached to the anterior margin of the ciliary body, anterior to the lens. The iris is a contractile
structure consisting mainly of smooth muscles surrounding an opening called the pupil.
 Nervous tunic – is the innermost tunic and consists of the retina:
 The retina covers the posterior five-sixths of the eye and composed of two layers:
 An outer pigmented retina, the pigmented retina, with choroid, keeps light from reflecting back into the eye.
 An inner sensory retina, the sensory retina contains photoreceptor cells, called rods and cones.
 Rods – are very sensitive to light and can function in dim light, but they do not provide color vision.
 The outer segments of rod and cone cells are modified by numerous foldings of the cell membrane to form disc. Rod cells contain a
photosensitive pigment called rhodopsin. Rhodopsin consists a protein opsin loosely bound to a yellow pigment called retinal.
 Cones – require much more light, and they do provide color vision. Three types of cones, each sensitive to a different
color: blue, green or red.
 When the posterior region of the retina is examined with an ophthalmoscope, two major features can be observed:
the macula and the optic disc.
 The macula is a small spot near the center of the posterior retina. In the center of the macula is a small pit, the
fovea centralis.
 Fovea centralis – is the part of the retina where light is most focused when the eye is looking directly at an object.
 Optic disc – is 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.

CHAMBERS OF THE EYE

 The interior of the eye is divided into the anterior chamber, the posterior chamber, and the vitreous chamber. The anterior
and posterior chamber 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 anterior and posterior chamber are filled with aqueous humor (watery fluid), 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 circulation through a venous ring that surrounds the
cornea. The presence of aqueous humor keeps the eye inflated, much like the air in a basketball.
 If flow of the aqueous humor from the eye through the venous ring is blocked, the pressure in they eye increases, resulting in a condition
called glaucoma. Glaucoma eventually lead to blindness because the fluid compresses the retina, thereby restricting blood flow through it.
 The vitreous chamber of the eye is filled with a transparent, jellylike substance called vitreous chamber. The vitreous humor helps maintain
pressure within the eye and holds the lens and the retina in place. It also refracts light.

FUNCTIONS OF THE EYE

 Light refraction – an important characteristic of light is that it can be refracted (bent). As light passes from air to some other,
denser transparent substance, the light rays refracted.
 The crossing point is called focal point (FP) and causing light to converge is called focusing. The focal point in the eye occurs just anterior to
the retina, and the tiny image that is focused on the retina is inverted compared to the actual object.

FOCUSING IMAGES ON THE RETINA

 The spherical lens has a more convex surface, causing greater refraction of light. This process is called accommodation.
NEURONAL PATHWAYS FOR VISION
 The optic nerve leaves the eye and exits the orbit through the optic foramen to enter the cranial cavity. Just inside the cranial
cavity, the two optic nerves connect to each other at the optic chiasm.
 Axons from the nasal (medial) parts of each retina cross through the optic chiasm and project to the opposite side of the brain.
 Axons from the temporal (lateral) part of each retina pass through the optic nerves and project to the brain on the same side of the
body without crossing.
 Beyond the optic chiasm, the route of the ganglionic axons is through the two optic tracts.
 Neurons from the thalamus from the fibers of the optic radiations, which project to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe of the
cerebrum.
 The image seen by each eye is the visual field of that eye. Depth perception (three-dimensional, or binocular, vision) requires
both eyes and occurs where the two visual fields overlap.
II. HEARING AND BALANCE
II. HEARING AND BALANCE
 The organs of hearing and balance are apportioned into three areas: the external, middle, and inner ears. The external ear is the
part extending from the outside of the head to the tympanic membrane, which is also called the eardrum. The middle ear is an air-
filled chamber medial to the tympanic membrane. The inner ear is a set of fluid-filled chambers medial to the middle ear. The
external and middle ears are involved in hearing only, whereas the inner ear functions in both hearing and balance.

ANATOMY AND FUNCTION OF THE EAR

 External Ear
 The auricle is the fleshy part of the external ear on the outside of head. The auricle opens into the external auditory canal, a passage way
that leads to the eardrum.
 The auricle collects sound waves and directs the toward the external auditory canal, which transmits them to the tympanic membrane. The
auditory canal is lined with hairs and ceruminous glands, which produce cerumen, a modified sebum common earwax. The hairs and
cerumen help prevent foreign objects from reaching the delicate tympanic membrane.
 The tympanic membrane, or eardrum, is a thin membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear.
 Middle Ear
 Medial to the tympanic membrane is the air-filled cavity of the middle ear. Two covered openings on the medial side of the middle ear, the
oval window and the round window, connect the middle ear with the inner ear.
 The middle ear contains three auditory ossicles: the malleus, the incus, and the stapes. These bones transmit vibrations from the tympanic
membrane to the oval window. The malleus is attached to the medial surface of the tympanic membrane. The incus connects the malleus to the
stapes. The base of the stapes is seated in the oval window, surrounded by a flexible ligament.
 Hearing loss - is caused by deficiencies in the spiral organ or nerves

NEURONAL PATHWAYS FOR HEARING

 The senses of hearing and balance are both transmitted by the vestibulocochlear nerve (VIII). The cochlear nerve is the portion
vestibulocochlear nerve involved in hearing: the vestibular nerve is involved in balanced.

BALANCE
 The sense of balance, or equilibrium, has two components: static equilibrium and dynamic equilibrium.
 Static equilibrium is associated with the vestibule and is involved in evaluating the position of the head relative to gravity.
 Dynamic equilibrium is associated with the semicircular canals and is involved in evaluating changes in the direction and the
rate of head movements.
 The vestibule of the inner ear can be divided into two chambers: the utricle and the saccule.
 Each chamber contains specialized patches of epithelium called the maculae, which are surrounded by endolymph. The maculae,
like the spiral organ, contain hair cells.
 The tips of the microvilli of these cells are embedded in a gelatinous mass, often called the otolithic membrane, weighted by
otoliths, particles of protein and calcium carbonate. The semicircular canals are involved in dynamic equilibrium.

FUNCTION OF THE VESTIBULE IN MAINTAINING BALANCE

 The base of each semicircular canal is expanded into an ampulla. Within each ampulla, the epithelium is specialized to form a
crista ampullaris. Each crista consists of a ridge of a epithelium with a curved, gelatinous mass, the cupula, suspended over the
crest. The cupula is structurally and functionally very similar to the maculae, except that it contains no otoliths.
 DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE SPECIAL
SENSES
 The special sense organs, essentially part of the nervous system, are formed very early in embryonic development. All special
senses are functional, to a greater or lesser degree, at birth.
 Strabismus – which is commonly called “crossed eyes,” results from unequal pulls by the external eye muscles that prevent the
baby from coordinating movement of the two eyes.
 Maternal infections that occur during early pregnancy, particularly rubella. May lead to congenital blindness or cataracts. If the
mother has a type of sexually transmitted infection called gonorrhea, the bacteria will infect the baby’s eyes during delivery.
 In resulting conjunctivitis, specifically called ophthalmia neonatorum, the baby’s eye leads become red, swollen, and produce
pus.
 This condition continues until about age 40, when presbyopia begins to set. Presbyopia results from decreasing lens elasticity
that accompanies aging.
 This condition, presbycusis, is a type of sensorineural deafness. In some cases, the ear ossicles fuse (osteosclerosis), which
compounds the hearing problem by interfering with sound conduction to the inner ear.
THANK YOU AND
GODBLESS! 

REPORTED BY: JUSSEL ZAIRA ONES BSED-SCI II