Sensory receptors and sensations

Chapter 12

12.1 Receptors 12.2 Sense of vision 12.3 Sense of hearing 12.4 Sense of balance 12.5 Other senses

Chapter outlines

 Receptors are sensory cells or organs that detects stimuli from the internal and external environment, transferring the information to Types of sensory nerve cells. receptors : (A) By source of stimulus. (1) Exteroceptors respond to stimulus outside the body. E.g. skin, nose, tongue, eyes and ears. -- receive stimuli such as touch, pain, taste, light and (2) Interoceptors respond to stimuli inside the body. sound from the external E.g. internal environment. organs and blood vessels. -- detect changes such as blood pressure, temperature, osmotic pressure etc.

12.1 Receptors

(3) Proprioceptors specifically sensitive to the relative positions of the skeleton and degrees of muscle contraction. (B) By function of receptor. (1) Chemoreceptors sensitive to chemical stimuli such as smell, taste and pH level of the blood. (2) Mechanoreceptors sensitive to mechanical stimuli such as pressure, tension, movement and gravity. (3) Photoreceptors sensitive to electromagnetic stimuli, particularly visible light and in insects (4)ultraviolet light. Thermoreceptors sensitive to heat stimuli, and particularly effective at detecting temperature differences.

12.2 Sense of vision the human eye Vertebrate vision starts at the retina, a tissue of densely
packed photoreceptors. The wall of the eyeball can be divided into three layers : (a) The outermost layer of the eye consists of the sclera. The sclera is the dense, fibrous white of an eye, protects most of the (b)eyeball. The middle layer of the eyeball consists of the choroid. The choroid is a darkly pigmented, vascularized tissue. It absorbs the light that photoreceptors have not absorbed and prevents it from (c) The innermost layer of the eye consists of the retina. scattering The retina is at inside the eye. the back of your eyeball. It consists of two types of light-sensitive cells, rod cells and cone cells.

 When rod cells and cone cells are stimulated by light, they will produce nerve impulses. Nerve impulses are conducted by the optic nerve to the cerebral cortex to produce vision. The optic nerve passes through the blind spot and leaves the eyeball. The blind spot does not contain any light-sensitive cells, so it does not produce vision.

Blind spot test

The structure of the eyeball

 Rods are spread evenly across the retina except at the fovea (yellow spot) where there are none. Away from the fovea, the number of rod They provide black and white vision only and are used cells increases. mainly for seeing in low light intensities or at night. They do not distinguish between Rod cells contain a single visual pigment called rhodopsin colours. which is formed from two components, retinene and opsin. Under bright light, retinene and opsin separate. This is referred to as bleaching. Under dim light, retinene and opsin recombine to form rhodopsin. bright light Rhodopsin opsin dim light retinene +

Rod cells

 In normal daylight, the rods are almost entirely bleached and can no longer respond to dim light the eye is said to be light adapted. enter a dark room from a bright room, we cannot When we immediately see clearly; but we can see clearly after sometimes (this is because rhodopsin will be almost fully reformed). The eye is now As retinene is sensitive to dim a light-absorbing derivative of vitamin A, a deficiency of said to be dark adapted. light and is vitamin A causes a deficit in the pigment needed by rod cells. Consequently, fewer rod cells are able to sufficiently respond in darker conditions, and as the cone cells are poorly adapted for light in the dark, blindness can result. This is night blindness. Nightblindness can be cured by taking more vitamin A.

Rod cells

Cone cells Cone cells are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that
are responsible for colour vision, they function best in relatively bright light, as Cone cells are densely packed in dim fovea, but gradually opposed to rod cells that work in the light. becomes sparser towards the periphery of the retina. In cone cells, there are three types of visual pigments which are sensitive to red, green and blue colours and can produce a wide range of colour vision known as the trichromatic theory of colour

 An individual with colour-blindness is unable to see certain or all the colours. The most common type of colour-blindness is the red-green colour-blindness in which the affected individual cannot distinguish between and green. redAnother example is total colour-blindness in which the individual cannot distinguish between all colours, so the individual can only see black and white colours.

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 The diurnal animals (active during daytime) such as chicken, possess mainly cone cells.

Nocturnal animals (active during night time) such as mice possess more rod cells Man possesses both types of cells so we can see things in the day and at night.

12.3 Sense of hearing the human ear

 The cochlea is the receptor for sound. It is a coiled structure located in the inner ear and is divided into three canals. (1) Vestibular canal located at the upper part of the cochlea. It consists of perilymph and is connected to the oval window. (2) Tympanic canal located at the lower part of the cochlea. It consists of perilymph and is connected to the round window. Vibrations run through the perilymph from the oval window to the round window. (3) Median canal / cochlear canal located at the middle part of the cochlea. It consists of endolymph. The Reissners membrane separates the endolymph from the vestibular canal and the basilar membrane separates it from the tympanic canal.

 Running through the whole cochlea is the tectorial membrane. The basilar membrane has a bulge that contains sensory hair cells. These three structures are collectively called the organ of Corti.

The production of sound Sound waves enter the ear canal and cause the tympanic
membrane (eardrum) to vibrate. From the tympanic membrane (eardrum), the vibrations are intensified as they are transferred through the three ear ossicles in the middle ear to the Vibrations of the oval window then produce waves that pass oval window. through the vestibular canal , push downwards on the cochlear canal, making the basilar Vibrations of the basilar membrane makes the sensory hair membrane vibrate. cells alternately brush against and draw away from the tectorial membrane. As a result, the sensory hair cells produce excitations that are converted into nerve impulses. These impulses are transmitted by the auditory nerves to the brain to produce hearing.

 Several organs in the inner ear detect body position and movement. These fluid-filled structures lie next to the cochlea and include three semicircular canals and two chambers, the utricle and saccule.

12.4 Sense of balance

Semicircular canals The three semicircular canals detect changes in the heads
rate of rotation or angular movement. As they are arranged in three perpendicular planes and The therefore detect movement in all directions. the can ends of the semicircular canals swell to form ampullae which contains a cluster of hair cells surrounded by gelatinous mass called a The semicircular canals consist of endolymph. When we turn cupula. our head, the semicircular canals move with us. If you rotate your head at a constant speed, the endolymph begins moving with the head, and the pressure on the cupula is reduced. But if you stop suddenly, the endolymph continues to move and again stimulates the hair cells, which may make you feel dizzy.

Ampulla e and cupula

Utricle and saccule Clusters of hair cells in the utricle and saccule detect the
position of the head with respect to gravity. The sensory hair cells are surrounded by a gelatinous material containing many small calcium carbonate particles called otoliths. When the position of the head changes, the otoliths push or pull against sensory hair cells causing the hair cells to bend in the opposite direction to maintain body balance.

12.5 Other senses (a) Sense of smell The olfactory (smell) receptors are sensory neurons that line
the upper portion of the nasal cavity. The olfactory receptors are mainly made up of olfactory cells. There are cilia (olfactory hairs) extending from the tips of the olfactory cells into the mucus that coats the nasal cavity. When an odorous substance diffuses into the mucus of the nasal cavity, the cilia (olfactory hairs) are stimulated. This causes the olfactory cells to Integration of the signals in the brain results in an odour produce nerve impulses which are then sent to the olfactory perception. Humans bulb of the brain. can distinguish thousands of different smells.

Smell in humans

 Our sense of taste depends on taste buds found in the projections of the tongue known as papilla. Taste buds are receptors for taste. They are mainly made up of taste cells. Taste buds can detect four types of taste perceptions sweet, sour, salty and bitter. When chemical substances in the food dissolve in the saliva, they stimulate the taste cells to produce nerve impulses which then sent to The brain. integrates a variety of inputs from different the brain receptors to create the flavours you perceive.

(b) Sense of taste

The four types of taste

Taste bud

(c) Skin sensation

 The skin contains various receptors that can receive stimuli such as touch, heat, cold, pressure, pain, etc. Examples of these receptors include : (a) Meissners corpuscle respond to touch. It is found abundant in fingertips, lips, eyelids, nipples, and genitals. (b) Ruffini endings repond to touch and pressure, and to temperatures above 45OC. (c) Pacinian corpuscle respond to pressure. It is widely distributed deep in the skin and also resides near freely movable joints and in some internal organs. (d) Krause bulbous corpuscle (bulb of Krause) respond to cold, is activated at 20OC or below. (e) Free nerve endings respond to cold, heat and pain. These branched endings of sensory neurons are distributed in skin and internal organs.

(a) Temperature control of the body.

Functions of the skin

(b) Excretion of waste products. E.g. sweat (c) Protection. (d) Sensitivity. (e) Formation of vitamin D.