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Peripheral Nervous System and Sensation in Anatomy & Physiology

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Terms in this set (21)

  • What is sensation?

    Sensation is a conscious or unconscious awareness of external and internal stimuli.

  • What is perception?

    Perception is the conscious awareness and interpretation of sensations.

  • What are the four events required for a sensation to arise?

    Stimulation, transduction, conduction, and translation.

  • What happens during transduction in sensation?

    A sensory receptor converts a stimulus into a nerve impulse by generating a generator potential.

  • How are sensory receptors classified by location?

    Exteroceptors (near body surface), interoceptors (deep in body), and proprioceptors (movement and position).

  • Name the five types of sensory receptors based on stimulus type.

    Mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors, nociceptors, photoreceptors, and chemoreceptors.

  • What is the difference between generator and receptor potentials?

    Generator potentials trigger action potentials; receptor potentials do not.

  • What is sensory adaptation?

    A decrease in sensitivity to a long-lasting stimulus.

  • What sensations are included in cutaneous sensations?

    Tactile (touch, pressure, vibration), thermoreceptive (cold and heat), and pain sensations.

  • Where are receptors for cutaneous sensations located?

    In the skin, connective tissue under skin, mucous membranes, and ends of the gastrointestinal tract.

  • What are the two types of touch sensations?

    Crude touch (detecting contact) and discriminative touch (recognizing exact location).

  • Name the receptors involved in touch sensations.

    Merkel discs, Meissner's corpuscles, root hair plexuses, and organs of Ruffini.

  • Which receptors detect pressure sensations?

    Pacinian corpuscles detect pressure, usually in deeper tissues.

  • What type of receptors are thermoreceptors?

    Free nerve endings that respond separately to hot and cold stimuli.

  • Why is pain an important sensation?

    It provides information about tissue damage and aids in diagnosis of disease or injury.

  • Where are pain receptors (nociceptors) located?

    Free nerve endings located in nearly every body tissue.

  • What is referred pain?

    Pain felt in a surface area far from the stimulated internal organ.

  • What is phantom pain?

    The sensation of pain in a limb that has been amputated, interpreted by the brain from remaining nerve impulses.

  • What is the proprioceptive sense?

    Awareness of muscle activity, body part movement, and body position.

  • Name the receptors involved in proprioception.

    Muscle spindles, tendon organs (Golgi tendon organs), and joint kinesthetic receptors.

  • Where does sensory information from the body terminate in the brain?

    In specific areas of the somatosensory cortex (postcentral gyrus).