1. Why are sensory receptors good translators (i.e., what do they do)? a What ar

Question

1. Why are sensory receptors good translators (i.e., what do they do)?

a What are the four types of sensory receptors and give an example for each?

b. How does lateral inhibition enhance the perception of a stimulus?

c ) Why is spatial preservation so important in the somatosensory system?

d) Hair cells transduce sound waves into action potentials via mechanoreception. They communicate intensity of sound (loudness) because they fire more action potentials when the stimulus is louder; however, they are not able to transduce information regarding the location of the sound in the environment. How is location of sound determined in the brain?

e) Describe the receptive field for a hair cell (hint, what makes a given hair cell fire an action potential?). What is the main characteristic of the basilar membrane that determines the specific receptive field for an individual hair cell?  

Explanation / Answer

Q1 ) a) Sensory receptors are the structures which responds to a specific stimuli either external or internal and transmits or conducts that stimuli to brain.They connect the nervous system with the internal ( inside the body) and external environment , they can give signal regarding all sorts of stimuli.That's why they are good translators.

The four types of sensory receptors are 1) CHemoreceptors 2) Thermoreceptors 3) Mechanorecpetors 4) photoreceptors.

1) Chemorecptors:-

This type of receptor is stimulated by changes in chemical concentrations. They are part of the autonomic control of respiratory system . Specialized nerve cells within the aorta and carotid arteries called peripheral chemoreceptors monitor the oxygen concentration of the blood and give feed back on the respiratory centers. If the oxygen concentration in the blood decrease, they instruct the respiratory centers to increase the rate and depth of breathing.They also monitor carbondioxide concentration of blood and pH of blood.

2) Thermoreceptors:- These receptors are stimulated by changes in temperature. They are free nerve endings located on the dermis, skeletal muscles, liver, and hypothalamus.

3) Mechanorecpetors:- mechanoreceptors are receptors in the skin and on other organs, which detect sensations of touch. They are called mechanoreceptors because they are designed to detect mechanical sensations or differences in pressure. There are four primary tactile mechanoreceptors in human skin: Merkel’s disks, Meissner’s corpuscles, Ruffini endings, and Pacinian corpuscle; two are located near the surface of the skin and two are located deeper in the skin.

4) Photoreceptors:- These specialised neuron are stimulated by light energy. and reacts to it.There are 2 types of photoreceptors in the retina  rods and cones , Rods work in less sensitive light and helps in peripheral vision. they help in knowing shape and movement of the object, cones help in color vision.

Q1 ) b) How does lateral inhibition enhance the perception of a stimulus?

Answer:- Lateral inhibition, is the inhibition which neighboring neurons in brain pathways have on each other. For example, in the visual system, neighboring pathways from the receptors to the optic nerve, which carries information to the visual areas of the brain, show lateral inhibition. This means there the neighboring visual neurons respond less, if they are activated at the same time then if one is activated alone. So the fewer the neighboring neurons stimulated, the more strongly a neuron responds. This process remarkably increases the visual system's ability to respond to edges of a surface.

Q1)c)Why is spatial preservation so important in the somatosensory system?

The somatosensory system is a part of the sensory system related to conscious perception of touch, pressure, pain, temperature, position, movement, and vibration, It arises from the muscles, joints, skin, and fascia.

In case of a street dancer who is dancing at night as there is less light in night so the dancer faces problem in visual and somatosensory sytem, at that time vestibular system plays an important role and it helps in maintaing balance, also the touch of the feet repeatedly to the ground , it tells the spatial position and gives an idea about the space , the more practise the dancer does he will be more acquinted and will be able to maintain balance even in absence of light, as body will be accustomed to the movements and to the surface . so spatial contact plays an important role in somatosensory sytem.

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