Physiology: Sensory Physiology and Receptors March 4, 2010 1. Define the following terms: a.

Receptor/generator potential: graded potential that results from the transduction of stimulus energy which causes a change in ion fluxes across the membrane b. Adaptation/desensitization: a decrease in the frequency of action potentials in a sensory neuron despite maintenance of the stimulus at constant strength c. Recruitment: as stimulus strength increases and spreads over a larger area, more sensory neurons in immediately adjacent areas are recruited d. Sensory modality: the type of sensory information that is being conveyed i. E.g. in the skin: 5 different receptors allow sensitization to different modalities (light touch, touch, pain, deep pressure, warmth) e. Sensory unit: a sensory axon and all its peripheral branches i. Contains receptive field: area from which the stimulus produces a response in that unit. f. Somatotopy: organized arrangement of neural fibers conveying sensory information from the body 2. Explain how tonic and phasic receptors work, and give examples a. Phasic receptors (aka rapidly adapting receptors) i. Respond very quickly at the onset of a stimulus frequency decreases over time and the axons may eventually stop responding altogether ii. Important for indicating when there is a change in the stimulus b. Tonic receptors (aka slowly adapting receptors) i. Maintain their response to a stimulus over time due to a slowly decaying generator potential ii. In some situations, you dont want adaptation (e.g. pain; you need this stimulus to show something is physiologically abnormal!) 3. Describe how different receptors transduce stimuli into action potentials in sensory neurons

a. Axons of sensory neurons themselves or specialized cells that affect sensory axons that terminate on those cells b. Sense organ = receptor + specialization (detects specific stimulus) 4. List and describe the four general features of sensory coding a. Sensory modality: type of sensory info that is being conveyed b. Stimulus intensity: as it increases, recruitment is activated c. Stimulus location and acuity i. Acuity: increases as the size of the area of the receptive fields decreases (becomes finer) d. Stimulus duration: relates to adaptation 5. Explain in detail how a sensory stimulus is localized, and how different degrees of stimulus acuity are achieved a. Lateral inhibition: receptors at the edge of a receptive field are inhibited relative to the receptors in the center of a receptive field b. **Enhances the boundaries of a particular stimulus; helps in accurate and precise localization of a stimulus

c.

d. 6. Describe how the CNS controls sensory perception in general terms a. Within the CNS there are numerous places where sensory information that is received via the periphery can be modified, amplified, or dampened b. processed sensory information gets conveyed to conscious levels within the cerebral cortex c. Conscious levels can get tricked! Example is referred pain; sensory information that does not have physiological basis