Neuro 520

Out with the old In with the new

Week 10 Sensory Oct 22-26 Week 10 Sensory Oct 22-26
M 8:10 General Senses K. Kelliher M 8:10 General Senses K. Kelliher
Tu 12-1:30 Seminar Speaker Tu 12-1:30 Seminar Speaker
W 8:10 Vision K. Kelliher W 8:10 Somatosensory K. Kelliher
F 8:10 Vision K. Kelliher F 8:10 Somatosensory K. Kelliher

Week 11 Sensory Oct 29-Nov 2 Week 11 Sensory Oct 29-Nov 2

M 8:10 Vision K. Kelliher M 8:10 Vision K. Kelliher
Tu 1-3 Vision/Intro Chemical Senses K. Kelliher W 8:10 Vision K. Kelliher
W 8:10 Olfaction K. Kelliher Tu 1-3 Literature K. Kelliher
F 8:10 Taste K. Kelliher F 8:10 Vision/Intro Chemical Senses K. Kelliher

Week 12 Sensory Nov 5-9 Week 12 Sensory Nov 5-9

M 8:10 Somatosensory K. Kelliher M 8:10 Olfaction K. Kelliher
Tu 1-3 Literature K. Kelliher W 8:10 Taste K. Kelliher
W 8:10 Somatosensory K. Kelliher Tu 1-3 Literature K. Kelliher
F 8:10 Auditory F 8:10 Auditory K. Kelliher

Week 13 Sensory Nov 12-16 Week 13 Sensory Nov 12-16

M 8:10 Holiday K. Kelliher M 8:10 Holiday K. Kelliher
Tu 1-3 Literature K. Kelliher W 8:10 Vestibular K. Kelliher
W 8:10 Vestibular K. Kelliher Tu 1-3 Literature K. Kelliher
F 8:00 Exam III K. Kelliher F 8:00 E xam III K. Kelliher
 Literature Reviews

Literature Reviews

New an fabulously interesting paper will be assigned each

Friday

We will discuss this paper on the following Thursday

In that time you will write up a 1-2 Max page summery/review

of the paper.
Brief Background of importance
Brief summery
Important methods
Authors Conclusions
at least to criticisms of experiments
Principles of Sensory System Function
 Sensory Perception
Sensory Physiology
(neurophysiology) (inner) Psychophysics

STIMULUS TRANSDUCTION PERCEPTION

Psychophysics
 Threshold
Sensory systems are specialized for the detection of very weak stimuli

Definition of threshold can be slightly different depending on

who is studying it and where

Sensory Physiology - Minimum amount of stimulation to activate a

receptor potential
Sensory Physiology - Minimum amount of stimulation
trigger an action potential
Psychophysics - Minimum amount of stimulation for perception of a
stimulus
 Measuring Threshold

Measuring electrical activity of Measuring behavioral responses to

receptor neurons to sensory
stimuli
These dose response curves can be
used to mark the response
threshold
sensory stimuli
With an operant conditioning
paradigm a detection threshold can
be surmised
 Principles of Sensory System Function

Perception

400 nm – 700 nm entire electromagnetic spectrum

20 Hz – 20 kHz all frequencies
~1000 different chemicals total # of chemicals
 Principles of Sensory System Function

Perception

What humans perceive may bear little resemblance to

what is actually out there.

Human perceptual capacities are subject to selection

pressures; our sensory systems are sufficient for
successful interaction with the physical world.
Principles of Sensory System Function

Attributes of sensory systems:

Modality
Type of stimulus = type of system
Location
Spatial detection of stimulus
Intensity
Strength of stimulus
Timing
Temporal detection of stimulus
 Principles of Sensory System Function

Factors influencing threshold detection

Type of Stimulus - For hearing threshold detection depends on the

frequency
Adaptation - Systems self regulate with feedback inhibition
Masking - Simultaneous presentation of different cues can change
the systems ability to detect
Temporal integration - Summation or muting of stimulus
Spatial Integration - receptive field
Other Factors-
 Modality of Sensory Detection
Some Definitions
Afferent Sensory-- carry towards the central nervous system
Efferent Motor-- carry away from the central nervous system

Visceral Sensory senses information from organs glands and smooth muscle
General Sensory Used to refer to somatosensory detection (Mechanical Stimuli)

Special Sensory External sensory specialized for detecting cues at a distance

 Modality of Sensory Detection

Sensory Stimuli are detected by different modalities

Electromagnetic spectrum

Mechanical
Chemical
 Modality of Sensory Detection
Visceral Afferent

General Senses Special Senses

Touch Olfaction Provide information

Proprioception Taste regarding internal and
Pain Vision external environment:
Temperature Hearing
Vestibular Reflexes
Perception
 Principles of Sensory System Function

Modality

Receptor types: Sensory pathways:

Photoreceptors Touch
Mechanoreceptors Pain
Chemoreceptors Temperature
Thermoreceptors Proprioception
(nociceptors) Vision
Hearing
(osmoreceptors)
Taste
Olfaction
Vestibular
All sensory receptors produce receptor potentials but
not all produce action potentials
Sensory stimuli depolarize the
cell resulting in a receptor
potential
A.
1. Receptor releases
1 4 neurotransmitter on afferent nerve and
depolerizes nerve
2. Afferent nerve activity reaches
2 3 threshold and APs fire
3. APs propagate down nerve fiber to
the CNS first synapse
4. Neurotransmitter release results in
AP in post synaptic cell

B. Some sensory receptor cells a

neurons and produce APs
directly
Principles of Sensory System Function

Intensity
 Principles of Sensory System Function
Intensity
Na+

depolarization

Na+

depolarization
 Principles of Sensory System Function
Intensity
Na+

Big depolarization

Na+

Big depolarization
 Principles of Sensory System Function
Intensity
Na+
Neurotransmitter
release
Depolarization---threshold --- AP
Big depolarization

Na+

Big depolarization
 Principles of Sensory System Function
Intensity
Na+
Neurotransmitter
release
Depolarization---threshold --- AP
Big depolarization

Na+

threshold --- AP
Big depolarization
 Principles of Sensory System Function
Intensity
Na+
Neurotransmitter
release
Depolarization---threshold --- AP
Big depolarization

Na+

threshold --- AP
Big depolarization
mV
time
 Principles of Sensory System Function
Intensity
Na+
Neurotransmitter
release
Depolarization---threshold --- AP
Depolarization

Na+

threshold --- AP
Depolarization
mV
time
 Principles of Sensory System Function

Location

Spatial arrangement of receptors is retained throughout the

sensory pathways – reflects spatial information regarding
stimuli and can also reflect energy spectrum of stimuli

Capacity to localize a stimulus in space (or on body surface) =

ACUITY
 Principles of Sensory System Function
Location

ACUITY LOW HIGH

Receptor density
Touch Receptor Density
The ability to discriminate small
differences in stimuli often
depend on the receptor density.

Here two point discrimination is

possible in an area of high
receptor density (hand or finger
tip) but not in an are of low
receptor density such as the
forearm or leg.
Threshold

Threshold detection
can be a function of
strength of stimulus
and size of receptive
field
 Principles of Sensory System Function

Location - Convergence
ACUITY LOW HIGH

Receptor density

Convergence

Acuity also depends on

the density of second
order neurons and the
level of convergence
 Convergence

Photos
Photos From:
From: Axel
Axel Lab
Lab
http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/neurobeh/axel/
http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/neurobeh/axel/
 Principles of Sensory System Function

Location- Lateral Inhibition

ACUITY LOW HIGH

Receptor density

Convergence

Lateral inhibition (surround inhibition)

Lateral Inhibition

Interneurons communicate
between two sensory
neurons or first an second
order neurons to often to
inhibit adjacent neurons

Excitation of neuron be
results in an excitation of a
inhibitory interneuron.
The inhibitory interneuron
depresses activity in the
adjacent second order
neuron
Lateral Inhibition
Surround Inhibition
 Principles of Sensory System Function
Timing

Duration of a stimulus effects the perceived intensity

Temporal Integration

Duration
Temporal Integration
In the auditory system
detection thresholds
are lower as duration
of a signal increases
(up to about 300 msec)

With the visual system

the threshold is related
to the number of light
quanta detected in 100
msec
 Principles of Sensory System Function
Timing

Adaptation
 Principles of Sensory System Function
Timing

Adaptation

Provide information
regarding when stimulus
is present – better at
encoding intensity

Provide information
regarding when
stimulus changes
 Principles of Sensory System Function

Timing

Adaptation

Mechanisms:

Channel inactivation (transient gating)

Activation of additional channels (such as
Ca++ -dependent K+ channels)
ligand
Adaptation
CNG channel Cl- channel Ca2+/Na+
Na2+ Ca2+ exchanger
Na+

AC3
β + Cl- + Ca2+
G αolf -
γ

ATP cAMP Na2+ Ca2+ Ca2+-CaM