1. January 14, 2016
Journal: What are the names of the two types of photoreceptors in the eye? What are their functions?

2. Touch

3. Somatic Sensory System
Provides sensory input
Touch = somatic sensation
Motor neurons located in ventral horns of the spinal cord connect directly to the muscles

4. Three pathways that carry sensory information to your brain:
Dorsal column tract carries fine- touch and vibration information to your cerebrum
Spinothalamic tract carries temperature, pain, and basic touch information to your cerebrum
Spinocerebellar tract carries information about posture and position to your cerebellum

5. How you respond to touch:
Sensory neurons on your skin or joints detect a stimulus
Sends signal along neighboring neurons to the spinal cord
Spinal cord carries the signal up to the parietal lobe of the brain. This allows you to understand the stimulus.

6. How you respond to touch:
4. Then, the signal is sent to the somatic motor system located in the frontal lobe, which will determine what movement should be made in order to respond to the stimulus.
5. The plan for movement then leaves the frontal lobe and travels along neurons to the thalamus

7. How you respond to touch:
6. In the thalamus coordinates the movement of the body
7. Then the movement information is sent down the brain stem and spinal cord to the skeletal muscles that have planned to carry out movement

8. To sum up how you respond to touch:
Stimulus detected
Spinal cord
Parietal lobe
Frontal lobe
Thalamus
Back down the brain stem to the spinal cord
To the muscles designated to move
** Cerebellum makes the actual movements match the planned movements but scientists aren’t exactly sure how yet