3.

The Senses and the Somatic Nervous System

The Senses
 Introduction and Vision
 General Principle
 Sensation
 Perception
 Adaptation
 Peripheral
 Pseudounipolar neuron
 Dorsal root ganglion
 Beginning of axon -> axon -> cell body -> axon
 Each afferent neuron receives signals from a single type of stimulus
 Somatosensation
 Touch / Pressure / movement / posture
 Mechanoreceptors (stretch gated channels) on end of axon
 Encapsulated nerve ending
 Tissues surrounding
 Morphology and location and how deep
 Amount and rate of muscle stretch
 Proprioception
 Mechanoreceptors (stretch gated channels) in muscle, tendon, joint
 Vision or balance
 Thermoreceptor (temperature gated channel of free nerve ending) also respond to
chemicals
 Cold thermoreceptor - menthol. Menthol & cold matter activate cold
thermoreceptor
 Heat thermoreceptor - capsaicin (chilli). Capsaicin & hot matter activate heat
thermoreceptor
 Burning - ethanol
 Nociceptor - pain
 Free nerve ending sensing
 chemical released by Damaged cell or immune cell responding to
damaged cell
 extreme mechanical deformation
 high temperatures
 Vision
 Cornea: refraction & focusing
  anterior chamber: fluid, called aqueous humor
 Pupil
 Lens: Fine tuning & focusing
 Zonular fibers (between lens and muscles)
 Ciliary muscles
 Contract -> muscle shorter -> muscle diameter gets smaller ->
zonular fiber less tension -> lens more spherical less flat -> focus on
near
 Relax -> muscle longer -> muscle diameter gets bigger -> zonular
fiber more tension -> lens more flat -> focus on distant
 posterior chamber: gel called vitreous humor
 Retina
 Photoreceptor cells
 Rods
 Express Rhodopsin photopigment
 6 rods into 2 bipolar to 1 ganglion: high sensitivity low
resolution
 Night vision
 Cones (color sensing)
 Express 3 types of opsins photopigment -> 3 types of cones
for different wavelength
 Red
 Green
 Blue
 1 cone into 1 bipolar to 1 ganglion: low sensitivity high
resolution
 Bipolar cells -> graded potential
 Ganglion cell -> action potential
 Phototransduction
 Photopigment (G protein coupled receptor) in the plasma membrane
of the photoreceptors contain retinal (vitamin A) -> photopigment
change conformation -> cyclic GMP ↓ -> cyclic GMP-gated cation
channels close (at rest, GMP-gated cation channel open -> cation
enter cell -> depolarized) -> hyperpolarized -> neurotransmitter
secretion ↓
 Hearing and Vestibular System
 Hearing
 Compressed / expanded air = wave
 Pinna
 Auditory canal
  Tympanic membrane / eardrum
 Malleus incus stapes
 Vibration in air
 Oval window of cochlea
 Vibration in fluid
 Cochlea duct
 2 different fluid path
 Scala vestibuli
 Scala media
 Tectorial membrane
 Hair cell embedded in and coming down from tectorial membrane
 Stereocilia (tip) of hair cell embedded in tectorial membrane
 Organ of corti
 Bending stereocilia of hair cells -> stretch gated [K+]
channels open -> [K+] in -> depolarized -> neurotransmitter
released
 Bending in the other direction -> hyperpolarized ->
neurotransmitter inhibited
 axons from afferent neuron join to form cochlear nerve
 Vibration ↑ Action potential frequency ↑ sound ↑
 Basilar membrane vibrates
 Which portion: frequency / pitch
 Scala tympani
 Round window of cochlea
 Vestibular
 Angular acceleration
 3 Semicircular canals (90° from each other): head rotation eg nod yes shake
no tip side to side
 Inside canal: fluid
 Inside ampullae: cupula(hair cells)
 Fluid does not move, cupula moves -> action potential
 Linear acceleration
 Otolith (calcium carbonate crystals): tilt of head, vertical / horizontal
movement
 Saccule (90°): vertical (up and down)
 Utricle (standing): horizontal
 heavy & densed -> inertia ↑ -> other body cells move in the direction
of movement but crystals stay in same place -> tugging pulled by
gravity
 Gel
  Stereocillia (tip) of hair cells embedded in gel
 Chemical Senses
 Taste
 Sour (ion channel): proton / acidic
 Salty (ion channel): sodium / potassium
 Sweet (G protein coupled receptor): sugars
 Bitter (G protein coupled receptor): plant alkaloids
 Umami / meaty (G protein coupled receptor): amino acids like glutamate
 Chemoreceptors -> signal transduction pathway -> Intracellular [Ca2+] ↑ -> release
neurotransmitter -> graded potential -> action potential
 1 chemical bind to multiple receptors
 1 chemical: low concentrations
 Multiple chemicals: high concentrations
 Smell
 Neuron cilia express 400s types olfactory receptors / G protein coupled receptor
cation channel open -> graded potential -> action potential
 olfactory neuron serves as the receptor as well as afferent neuron
 1 chemical bind to multiple receptors