1. Ch. 10: Sensory Physiology
Types of sensory information
Receptive field
Threshold
Receptor potential
Labeled line coding
Location of stimulus
Lateral inhibition
Intensity and duration of stimulus
Tonic and phasic receptors

2. Types of conscious stimuli
Special senses: vision, hearing, taste, smell, equilibrium
Somatic senses: touch-pressure, temperature, pain, proprioception (make us aware of body position)

3. Receptor cells
Sensory systems contain receptor cells that respond to stimuli
The receptor cells transduce stimulation to a cellular response
Receptor cells can be neurons (somatosensory) or non-neural cells (hearing)

4. Receptor cells can be neurons (somatosensory) or non-neural cells (hearing)

5. Sensory pathways carry information to the CNS.
Relays: primary sensory neurons  secondary neurons  tertiary neurons

7. Receptive fields
Each receptor picks up information from a specific area
Sensory neurons converge on second order neurons, etc.

9. You can recognize two points:

10. Activity of a sensory neuron:

11. Transduction:
Convert stimulus energy to change in membrane potential (ions moving through channels)
Need an adequate stimulus for transduction (sensitivity)
Change in membrane potential is receptor potential (special senses) and generator potential (somatic senses)

12. If the receptor potential exceeds threshold in the trigger zone, an action potential Is formed and conducted for long range signaling to the axon terminal.

13. The effect of stimulus intensity and duration:

14. Labeled line coding
When a sensory neuron is activated, signals follow a specific pathway and elicit a specific sensation

15. Lateral inhibition (I have more, you can’t tell you neighbor that you have some)