Sensation refers to the process of sensing our environment through touch, taste, sight, sound and

smell.
- This information is sent to our brains in raw form where perception comes into play.
- the process by which our senses gather information and send it to the brain.
- With all the info coming into our senses, the majority of our world never gets recognized.
- We only sense those things we are able to

Kinds of Sensation:

1. Visual Sensation
- The perceptual experience of seeing; the runners emerged from the tress into his clear vision;
he had a visual sensation of intense light
- Physiological sense of sight by which the form, color, size, movements, and distance of objects
are perceived
- Human eye functions somewhat like a camera; it receives and focuses light upon a
photosensitive receiver, the retina
The light rays are bent and brought to focus as they pass through the cornea and
the lens.
The shape of the lens can be changed by the action of the ciliary muscles so that
clear images of objects at different distances and of moving objects are formed on
the retina.
Accommodation ability to focus objects at varying distances

The Role of the Retina

Retina the embryonic outgrowth of the brain
- Very complex tissue
- Most important elements:
many light-sensitive nerve cells
the rods secrete a substance called visual purple, or rhodopsin, provide vision in dim
light or semidarkness; since rods do not provide color vision, objects in such light appear
in shades of gray
the cones secrete the pigment iodopsin; most effective in bright light; they alone
provide color vision
Light rays brought to focus on the rods and cones produce a chemical reaction in those cells, in
which two pigments are broken down to form a protein and a vitamin A compound.
This chemical process stimulates an electrical impulse that is sent to the brain.
The structural change of pigment is normally balanced by the formation of new pigment through
the recombination of the protein and vitamin A compound; thus vision is uninterrupted.
The division of function between rods and cones is a result of the different sensitivity of their
pigments to light.
The iodopsin of cone cells is less sensitive that rhodopsin, and therefor is not activated by weak
light, while in bright light the highly sensitive rhodopsin of rod cells breaks down so rapidly that
it soon becomes inactive.
Fovea depression near the center of the retina that contains only cone cells
In the dim light, objects must be viewed somewhat to one side so the light rays fall on the area
of the retina that contains rod cells

Defects of Vision

A. Astigmatism
- Type of faulty vision caused by a non-uniform curvature in the refractive surfaces usually the
cornea, less frequently the lens of the eye.
- As a result: light rays do not all come to a single focal point on the retina. Instead, some focus on
the retina while others focus in front or behind it
- This condition may be congenital, or it may result from disease or injury, it can occur in addition
to nearsightedness or farsightedness.

B. Color Blindness
- Visual defect resulting in the inability to distinguish colors
- About 8% of men and 0.5% of women experience some difficulty in color perception
- Usually an inherited sex-linked characteristic, transmitted through but recessive in females.
- Acquired color blindness results from certain degenerative diseases of the eyes
- Most of those with defective color vision are only partially color-blind to red and green; they
have a limited ability to distinguish reddish and greenish shades. Those who are completely
color-blind to red and green see both colors as a shade of yellow
- Completely color-blind individuals can recognize only black, white, and shades of gray
- Usually not related to visual actuity; it is significant, therefore, only when persons who suffer
from it seek employment in occupations where color recognition is important, such as airline
pilots, railroad engineers, and others who must recognize red and green traffic signals
- Tests for color blindness include identifying partially concealed figures or patterns from a mass
of colored dots and matching skeins of wool or enameled chips of v arious colors

C. Farsightedness or Hyperopia
- Condition in which far objects can be seen easily but there is difficulty in near vision
- Caused by a defect of refraction in which the image is focused behind the retina of the eye
rather than upon it, either because the eyeball is too short or because the refractive power of
the lens is too weak
- Presbyopia a similarly faulty vision, is attributable to physiological changes in the lens brought
on by age

D. Nearsightedness or Myopia
- Defect of vision in which far objects appear blurred but near objects are seen clearly
- Because the eyeball is too long or the refractive power of the eyes lens is too strong, the image
is focused in front of the retina rather than upon it

The Role of the Optic Nerve and Brain
- The nerve impulses from the rods and cones are transmitted by nerve fibers across the retina to
an area where the fibers converge and form the optic nerve
- Blind spot- area where the optic nerves passes through the retina is devoid of rods and cones
- Optic Chiasma point where the optic nerve from the left eye and that from the right eye meet;
there each nerve separates into two branches. The inner branch from each eye crosses over and
joins the outer branch from the other eye.
- Two optic tracts exit tracts exit thereby from the chiasma, transferring the impulses from the
left side of each eye to the left visual center in the cerebral cortexand the impulses from the
right half of each eye to the right cerebral cortex.
- The brain then fuses the two separate images to form a single image.
- The image formed on the retina is an inverted one, because the light rays entering the eye are
refracted and cross each other. However, the mental image as interpreted by the brain is right
side up.
- How the brain corrects the inverted image to produce normal vision is unknown, but the ability
is thought to be acquired early in life, with the aid of other senses.

2. Auditory Sensation
- Physiological sensation received by the ear, originating in a vibration causing sound waves; the
sound waves are pressure variations in the air and travel in every direction, spreading out as an
expanding sphere.
- Sound energy cannot travel in a vacuum
- All sound waves in air travel with a speed dependent on the temperature; under ordinary
conditions, this is about 330 m/1080 ft. per second.
- The pitch of the sound depends on the number of vibrations imposed on the air per second but
the speed is unaffected
- The loudness of a sound is dependent primarily on the amplitude of the vibration of the air
- Sounds travel as longitudinal waves; that is, its compressions and refractions are in the direction
of propagation
- Like other waves light waves and water waves sound can be reflected, diffracted, and
refracted
- Echo heard to be the reflection of a sound wave
- Diffraction explains why sound can be heard round corners

Loudness, Frequency, and Discrimination Deficiencies
- Hearing sensitivity is indicated by the quietest sound that an individual can detect, called the
hearing threshold; this threshold can be accurately measured by a behavioural audiogram
- A record is made of the quietest sound that consistently prompts a response from the listener
- The test is carried out for sounds of different frequencies; there are also electro-physiological
tests that can be performed without requiring a behavioural response
- A hearing impairment exists when an individual is not sensitive to the sounds normally heard by
its kind
- In human beings, the term hearing impairment is usually reserved for people who have relative
insensitivity to sound in the speech frequencies
- The severity of a hearing impairment is categorized according to how much louder a sound must
be made over the usual levels before the listeners can detect it
- In profound deafness, even the loudest sounds that can be produced by the instrument used to
measure hearing ( audiometer ) may not be detected
- There is another aspect to hearing that involves the quality if a sound rather than amplitude
- In people, that aspect is usually measured by tests of speech discrimination; basically, these
tests require that the sound is not only detected but understood
- There are very rare types of hearing impairments which affect discrimination alone

Sensorineural Hearing Loss
- Due to insensitivity of the inner ear, the cochlea, or to the impairment of function in the
auditory nervous system; it can be mild, moderate, severe, or profound, to the total point of
deafness
- The greatest majority of human sensorineural hearing loss is caused by abnormalities in the hair
cells of the organ of Corti in the cochlea
- There are also very unusual sensorineural hearing impairments that involve the VIIIth cranial
nerve, the Vestibulocochlear nerve or the auditory portions of the brain
- In the rarest of these sorts of hearing loss, only the auditory centers of the brain are affected; in
this situation, central hearing loss, sounds may be heard at normal thresholds, but the quality of
the sound perceived is so poor that speech cannot be understood
- Most sensory hearing loss is due to poor hair cell function
- The hair cell may be abnormal at birth, or damaged during the lifetime of an individual
- There are both external causes of damage, like noise trauma and infection, and intrinsic
abnormalities, like deafness genes
- Central Hearing Impairment - sensorineural hearing loss that results from abnormalities of the
central auditory system in the brain
- Since the auditory pathways cross back and forth on both sides of the brain, deafness from a
central cause is unusual
- Hearing loss can be inherited; both dominant genes and recessive genes exist which can cause
mild to profound impairment
- If a family has a dominant gene for deafness it will persist across generations because it will
manifest itself in the offspring even if it is inherited from only one parent
- If a family had genetic hearing impairment caused by a recessive gene, it will not always be
apparent as it will have to be passed onto offspring from both parents
- Dominant and recessive hearing impairment can be syndromic or nonsyndromic

3. Olfaction Sensation
- Olfaction, also known as olfactics or smell refers to the sense of smell
- This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by
analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates
- For air-breathing animals, the olfactory system detects volatile or, in the case of the accessory
olfactory system, fluid-phase chemicals
- For water-dwelling organisms, such as fish and crustaceans, the chemicals are present in the
surrounding aqueous medium
- Whether for finding food, avoiding predators, or choosing a mate, the sense of smell is critical
for the existence of almost all creatures
- We, humans, able to distinguish over 10,000 different odor molecules, utilize our sense of smell
for a multitude of activities from enjoying the aroma of freshly brewed coffee to deciding whom
not to sit next to on the bus
- Olfactory Epithelium - every time we inhale, currents of air swirl up through the nostrils, over
the bony turbinates, to a sheet about the size of a small postage stamp that contains millions
of olfactory receptor neurons
- Each of the millions of olfactory neurons has minuscule filaments (cilia) extending from its knob;
this knob is located at the tip of the olfactory neuron and the cilia project from the knob directly
into the atmosphere; this is the only part of the brain that projects into the atmosphere
- The cilia contain olfactory receptors, specialized proteins that bind low molecular weight
molecules ( odorants )

Smell Disorders
- People who experience smell disorders experience either a loss in their ability to smell or
changes in the way they perceive odors
- Hyposmia - condition where the ability to detect odor is reduced
- Anosmia condition where people cant detect odor at all
- As for the changes in the perception of odors, some people notice that familiar odors become
distorted; or, an odor that usually smells pleasant instead smells foul
- Still, other people may perceive a smell that isnt present at all
- Smell disorders have many causes, some clearer than others
- Most people who develop smell disorders have recently experienced an illness or injury
- Common triggers are upper respiratory infections and head injuries
- Among other causes of smell disorders are polyps in the nasal cavities, sinus infections,
hormonal disturbances, or dental problems
- Exposure to certain chemicals, such as insecticides and solvents, and some medicines have also
been associated with smell disorders
- People with head and neck cancers who receive radiation are also among those who experience
problems with their sense of smell