ANATOMY OF TONGUE
Anatomy of Receptors for Taste
• The special sense organ for taste is the taste bud.
• Taste buds are located mostly on the tongue and
contain different cells:
- Taste cells HAVE taste hairs that are chemoreceptors.
- Basal cells are stem cells that replace dead taste cells.
- Support cells physically support the 50-150 taste cells
in each taste bud.
Physiology of Taste
• There are five primary tastes: salt, sweet, sour, bitter,
and umami.
• Other sensory inputs are used to produce the
sensations of flavors.
ANATOMY OF NOSE
Anatomy of Receptors for Smell
• Olfactory cells are bipolar neurons.
• Olfactory cells access the olfactory mucosa of the roof
of the nasal cavity through the foramen of the
cribriform plate.
• Olfactory hairs are chemoreceptors.
ANATOMY OF THE EAR
• Frequency of sound waves, measured in hertz,
determines pitch.
• Volume is measured in decibels.
• The ear can be divided into three sections: the outer
ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear.
• The ear is the organ of hearing.
• It is made up of 3 major parts:
- External ear
- Middle ear
- Inner ear
External Ear Consists of Two Parts:
• Pinna
- Funnel-like structure made of cartilage and skin
- Attached to side of head
• External auditory canal
- Short tube extending from pinna to eardrum
- Contains ceruminous glands
• Sound waves hitting the pinna enter the auditory canal.
• Cerumen and hairs in the auditory canal keep foreign
particles from reaching the eardrum.
Middle Ear is Composed of 4 Parts:
 Tympanic membrane (eardrum)
• Closes the interior to the external auditory canal
• Externally covered in skin, internally covered in
mucous membrane
• Sound waves cause the membrane to vibrate in
and out at the same frequency.
 Tympanic cavity
• Air-filled space in temporal bone separated from
external auditory canal by the tympanic membrane
 Auditory tube
• Connects tympanic cavity with the pharynx
• Allows for air pressure in the tympanic cavity to
equal external air pressure
• Essential for eardrum to function properly
 Ear ossicles
• Three tiny bones forming a lever system between
tympanic membrane and inner ear
- Malleus
- Incus
- Stapes
• Vibrations from tympanic membrane pass from
malleus to incus to stapes.
• Stapes vibrates on the oval window of inner ear.
Inner Ear
• Two series of conducting tubes and chambers
embedded, one inside the other
• Outer bony labyrinth
• Inner membranous labyrinth
• Functional fluids in the inner ear
- Space between the two labyrinths is filled with
perilymph.
- The membranous labyrinth is filled with
endolymph.
• Inner ear consists of three major parts:
- Cochlea
- Vestibule
- Semicircular canals
o Cochlea
 Coiled portion
 3 chambers separated by membranes:
- Scala vestibuli
- Scala tympani
- Vestibule
 Oval window
 Round window
 Cochlear duct extends almost to apex of cochlea.
- Separated from scala vestibuli by the vestibular
membrane
- Separated from scala tympani by basilar
membrane
• Basilar membrane contains 20,000 cross hairs
- Cross hairs increase in length from the base to apex of
the cochlea.
- Fibers attach to bony center of cochlea.
- Can vibrate when activated by vibrations made from
sound
• Organ of Corti is in upper surface of basilar membrane.
- It contains sound receptors called hair cells.
- Hair cells extend cilia towards overlying tectorial
membrane.
- Nerve fibers for the cochlear branch of the
vestibulocochlear nerve exit each hair cell.
Pitch and Loudness
• Different portions of the basilar membrane vibrate in
accordance with different frequencies (pitch) of
sound waves
- Low pitch vibrates longer basilar fibers
- High pitch vibrates shorter basilar fibers
• Pitch is determined by:
- Portion of basilar membrane and organ of Corti
activated by a sound frequency
- The hearing centers receiving the impulses
EQUILIBRIUM
Several sensory receptors are involved
• Receptors in joints and muscles
• Receptors in the eyes
• Receptors in the inner ear
There are two types of equilibrium:
• Static equilibrium: when the head is motionless
• Dynamic equilibrium: when the head is moving
Anatomy of the Vestibular Apparatus
 Static equilibrium
- The macula is the organ of static equilibrium.
- Inside the utricle and saccule
- Contains thousands of hair cells
 Hair cell cilia are embedded in a gelatinous mass
containing otoliths.
 Otoliths accomplish two tasks:
- Increase the weight of the gelatinous mass
- Make it more responsive to the force of gravity
 Dynamic equilibrium
- Semicircular canals contain receptors that detect
motion of the head.
- Canals are oriented at 90 degrees to each
other.
- Each canal is attached to utricle by an ampulla.
- Each ampulla possesses a crista ampullaris.
- Sensory organ for dynamic equilibrium
- Contains hair cells with processes
extending into a cupula
- Connected to fibers from
vestibulocochlear nerve
PHYSIOLOGY OF EQUILIBRIUM
• Mechanism of static equilibrium
- Pull of gravity on gelatinous
- mass causes hair cells to form impulses.
• Mechanism of dynamic equilibrium
- When heads turns, endolymph pushes on the
cupula.
- Hair cells bend, causing impulses to form.
ANATOMY OF THE EYE
• The eye uses photoreceptors to detect light.
• Rectus and oblique muscles stimulated by CN III, IV,
and VI move the eye.
• The wall of the eye has three layers: the sclera, the
uvea, and the retina.
• The Orbital Region
 Protected by surrounding bones
 Supported by connective tissues
 Cushioned by fatty tissues behind the eyes
• Eyelids, eyelashes, and eyebrows
• Eyelids keep the eyes moist by spreading tears
and mucus.
• Conjunctiva
• Eyelashes keep out airborne particles and protect
from excessive light.
• Eyebrows shield the eyes from overhead light.
• Lacrimal apparatus
• Tear production
• Lacrimal gland produces tears.
• Lacrimal ducts carry tears to eye surface.
• Tear functions
• Keep eyes moist
• Wash away foreign particles
• Contain lysozyme to reduce infection chances
• Tear removal
• Collect at inner corner of eye
• Drain into superior and inferior canaliculi,
into lacrimal sac, and into nasolacrimal duct
• Muscles of the Eye
• 6 muscles that originate on the back of the eye
orbit and insert on the eyeball
• Function as a coordinated group to enable eye
movements
• The Eyeball: sclera, uvea, and retina
• Hollow and spherical, roughly 2.5cm in diameter
• Wall is composed of three layers
• Interior spaces are filled with fluids to support and
maintain eye shape. These fluids include the
aqueous humor and vitreous body.
• Sclera
• Tough, fibrous, opaque, white portion of the eye
- Provides protection for delicate internal
portions of eye and optic nerve
• Cornea is the anterior, convex, clear window of
the eye
- Bends light rays as they pass through it
- Lacks blood vessels and nerves
• Uvea
• Choroid coat
- Has large blood vessels to nourish the eye
- Has melanin to prevent backscattering of light
• Ciliary body
- Has ciliary muscles that surround the lens
• Can change shape of lens
• Suspensory ligaments between ciliary
body and lens hold the lens in place
• Iris is the colored portion of the eye.
- It controls the amount of light entering the
eye by controlling the size of the pupil.
- Pupil is the opening in the center of the iris
that allows light to pass into the eye.
• Constricted in bright light
• Dilated in dim light
• Retina
• Lines the interior of the eye posterior to the ciliary
body
• Possesses rods for black and white vision
• Sensitive only to presence of light
• Possesses cones for color vision
• Requires bright light to function
• Optic disc
- Blood vessels enter and exit the eye.
- Axons exit the eye.
- No receptor cells = blind spot.
• Macula Lutea
- Yellowish disc on the retina
- Contains the fovea centralis, which contains
only cones; is the area of sharpest vision
• Photoreceptor distribution in the retina DIAGNOSTIC TEST FOR DISORDERS OF THE SENSES THE SACCULE AND UTRICLE
• Cones are most concentrated at the fovea centralis. • The Ishihara test is a test for color blindness.
- Density decreases with distance from the fovea. • The Rinne test and Weber test are tests in which a
• Rods are least concentrated at the fovea centralis. tuning fork is used to test for hearing loss.
-Density increases with distance from fovea. • The Snellen test uses an eye chart to measure visual
acuity.
PHYSIOLOGY OF VISION • Tonometry is a procedure that measures the pressure
• Light must be refracted precisely so it is focused on the inside the eye.
retina.
- Cornea does the largest refraction. IMAGES
- Lens perform accommodation to provide fine
adjustment. OLFACTORY RECEPTORS
• Accommodation helps to focus light on the retina.
- Involves adjusting the shape of the lens for
distance, intermediate, and near vision
- For distant vision:
• Ciliary muscles relax.
• Tension on suspensory ligaments is high.
• Lens flattens.

SEMICIRCULAR CANALS

ANATOMY OF THE COCHLEA

- For near vision:

• Ciliary muscles contract.
• Suspensory ligaments have low tension.
• Lens thickens.
ORBITAL REGION MUSCLES OF THE EYES NUERONS OF THE RETINA

THE LACRIMAL GLAND AND DUCTS

SAGGITAL VIEW OF THE EYE

THE RETINA AS SEEN THROUGH AN OPTHLAMOSCOPE

THE ACCESSORY STRUCTURES OF THE EYS