Exercise 10: ANS, General Senses,
Gustation, & Olfaction
Part I: Autonomic Nervous System
1. Autonomic Nervous System Divisions: discuss what they control
• Sympathetic Increases alertness, heart rate, blood pressure, pulmonary airflow, and blood flow to
cardiac and skeletal muscle ("fight or flight"), also reduces blood flow to skin and the digestive tract.
• Parasympathetic Associated with bodily maintenance and reduced energy usage, "rest and digest,"
digestive functions and waste elimination.
2. Identify the following structures and know their function.
• Sympathetic trunk/chain ganglia anterior and lateral to the spinal cord, SNS ganglia relay info about stress/danger
• White rami communicans connects SNS chain ganglia to a spinal nerve, white rami are myelinated fibers
• Gray rami communicans connects SNS chain ganglia to blood vessels, muscles, sweat glands, unmyelinated fibers
sympathetic ganglion
white communicating ramus
spinal nerve
Figure 10.1 Sympathetic Nervous
System Structures
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Part II: General Senses
1. Define these terms.
• General Senses touch, pressure, stretch, temperature, pain, sensations of viscera, skin, muscles,
proprioception of limbs
• Special Senses utilizes complex sense organs - vision, hearing, equilibrium, taste, smell
• Nociceptor receptor which detects painful sensation
• Thermoreceptor receptor sensitive to temperatures above or below normal body temperature
• Mechanoreceptors receptor for physical stimuli such as pressure, vibration, and body positioning
o Tactile receptor a type of mechanoreceptor to detect touch and vibration of the dermis
o Baroreceptor a type of mechanoreceptor to detect pressure changes in organs such as
the heart or lungs
o Proprioceptor a type of mechanoreceptor in the limbs which detects positioning of body
parts and stretching of muscles (via muscle spindles)
2. Identify and know the function of the following sensory receptors.
• Free (naked) dendritic endings in dermis, cornea, tongue, viscera; detects pain, deformation, and temperature
• Type I cutaneous mechanoreceptors: Tactile (Merkel) discs dermal receptor for vibration
• Hair root plexuses wrapped around hair root in dermis, detects movement of hair
• Encapsulated nerve endings
o Tactile (Meissner’s) corpuscles receptor for light touch & texture, 2-3 nerve fibers in capsule of flat neurilemmas
(Schwann cells), concentrated in fingertips, palms, eyelids, etc.
o Lamellated (Pacinian) corpuscles receptors for vibration deep in dermis, periosteum, joint capsules, viscera
o Bulbous (Ruffini’s) corpuscles receptors for heavy touch, pressure, stretching of skin, movement in joints
• Muscle spindles receptors in line with skeletal muscle fibers; detect muscle contraction and stretching
• Neurotendinous (Golgi tendon) organ located in line with tendons to detect stretching
• Joint capsule receptor relays info to brain from joint capsule about position and movement of limbs
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A B
free nerve endings
tactile disc
tactile corpuscle
bulbous
corpuscle
lamellated
hair root plexus corpuscle
Figure 10.2 Receptor Types
3. Histology
• Identify the following from a microscope slide
Lamellated (Pacinian) Corpuscle Tactile (Meissner’s) Corpuscle
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4. Activities
• Two-point Discrimination
o Supplies: calipers, ruler
o Instructions
Work in groups of 2, one subject and one examiner
Using the calipers completely together, gradually increase the distance
between the caliper arms until two points of contact can be felt.
Measure the distance in mm and record on the table below.
Area Tested Student #1 Distance in mm Student #2 Distance in mm
Palm of hand 8 mm 6 mm
Fingertips 4 mm 1 mm
Back of neck 16 mm 18 mm
Ventral forearm 17 mm 10 mm
o Which area has the smallest distance for two-point discrimination? Which had
the largest distance? The fingertips had the smallest distance and back of neck
had the largest distance (with 1 student also having larger distance on forearm).
o Explain why there is a difference? The concentration of tactile receptors is the
highest in the fingertips, followed by the palm of the hand, and has a lower
density of receptors located elsewhere.
• Testing Tactile Localization
o Supplies: red felt-tipped marker, blue felt-tipped marker
o Instructions
Working in groups of 2, have one student close their eyes.
The examiner should touch the area of the body with a blue marker.
While eyes are still closed, the student should attempt to touch the same
location with the red marker.
Complete two additional trials with each location, measuring the distance
in mm between the colored dots.
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Distance in mm
Area Tested Attempt 1 Attempt 2 Attempt 3
Palm of Hand 4 mm 17 mm
Fingertip 5 mm 0 mm
Forearm 25 mm 4 mm
Back of Hand 4 mm 5 mm
o Which area has the smallest error of localization? the fingertip had the smallest error
o Does the ability to localize improve with each subsequent attempt? each student did
this test only once, but both got their greatest error on the first spot tested (forearm for
student 1, palm of hand on student 2), so the ability to localize does improve.
• Adaptation of Temperature Receptors
o Supplies: bowls filled with 45°C water, ice-filled water
o Immerse left hand in 45 °C bath and note the initial sensation.
o After 1 minute, immerse the right hand also in the water bath.
o What is the sensation of the left hand after 1 minute compared to the initial
sensation? initially tingly with a rush of warmth, intensity of sensation decreased
after 1 minute passed
o How is the sensation of the left hand after 1 minutes compared to the sensation of
the right hand? the right hand (in cold bath) initially felt sharp and painful, then after a
minute the pain in the hand was more deep; intensity increased while skin was superficially numb
o Remove both hands and wait 5 minutes.
o Place left hand in the ice bath and the right hand in the 45°C bath.
o After 1 minutes, what sensations are you detecting? the feeling of the warm bath is duller
and harder to sense after the cold; the cold bath is sharper and a faster sensation after warmth
o How is the sensation of the ice bath different from the warm water bath?
the feeling is sharper, quicker to detect, and more intense
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Part III: Olfaction
1. Locate the following structures and know their function.
• Olfactory epithelium
o Olfactory neuron (receptor cell)
o Supporting cells
o Olfactory (Bowman’s) gland
• Olfactory nerves
• Olfactory tract
• Olfactory bulb
• Cribriform plate with olfactory foramina
A B
olfactory bulb olfactory bulb olf. tract
olf. tract
mitral cells
olf. epithelium
nasal olf. neurons
conchae ethmoid bone
air
filaments of
pathway
olfactory nerve
connective tiss.
olf. gland
olf. receptor
dendrite
olf. cilia
mucus
Fig. 10.3 Olfactory Epithelium; (A) relation to cribriform plate, (B) enlarged view
Part IV: Taste
1. Identify the taste/texture structures of the tongue and know their characteristics
• Circumvallate papillae 7-12 large papillae in V shape at back of the tongue, contains up to half of all tastebuds
• Fungiform papillae widely distributed on tongue, round shape, each has about 3 tastebuds
• Filiform papillae small spikes with no tastebuds, most common papillae, senses texture
• Foliate papillae parallel ridges on the sides of the tongue about 2/3 back next to molars, loses tastebuds by 2-3 years old
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2. What are the five primary tastants?
• salty
• sweet
• umami
• sour
• bitter
3. Identify the structures of a taste bud. Histology of a Taste Bud
• Taste pore
• Gustatory receptor cells
• Gustatory hairs
• Stratified squamous epithelium
Figure 10.4 Structure and Location of Taste Buds
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4. Activities
• Demonstrating Olfactory Adaptation
o Supplies: clove oil, black pepper, mint, chocolate
o Press one nostril closed and hold one container under the open nostril.
o Inhale through the nose while exhaling through the mouth.
o Record the time for the odor to disappear. 16, 18, 15, 20 seconds
o Immediately test another scent with the same nostril.
What are the results? 16 seconds - clove oil, 18 seconds - black pepper,
15 seconds - mint, 20 seconds - chocolate
What conclusions can you draw? The intensity of the smell seems to correlate
with the time it takes for the sense to fatigue, with mint being one of the most
intense smells in this test. Mint and clove oil caused olfactory fatigue the fastest.
• Stimulating Taste Buds: This is an activity to do at home.
o Supplies: paper towels, sugar packet
o Dry the surface of your tongue
o Sprinkle a few sugar crystals on your dried tongue and DO NOT close your
mouth.
o Record how long it takes to taste the sugar. 6 seconds
Why were you unable to taste the sugar immediately? The sugar molecules
must dissolve in the saliva before they can be tasted.
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Exercise 10: Terminology List
Autonomic Nervous Olfaction/Smell
Sympathetic Olfactory epithelium
Parasympathetic Olfactory neurons (receptor cells)
Sympathetic trunk/chain ganglia Supporting cells
White rami communicans Olfactory (Bowman’s) glands
Gray rami communicans Olfactory nerves
Olfactory tract
Olfactory bulb
General Senses Cribriform plate with olfactory foramina
Nociceptor
Thermoreceptor
Mechanoreceptor Taste/Gustation
Tactile receptor Circumvallate papillae
Baroreceptor Fungiform papillae
Proprioceptor Filiform papillae
Free dendritic ending Foliate papillae
Tactile (Merkel) discs Tastant
Hair root plexuses Sweet
Encapsulated nerve ending Salty
Tactile (Meissner’s) corpuscle Bitter
Lamellated (Pacinian) corpuscle Sour
Bulbous (Ruffini’s) corpuscle Umami
Neurotendinous (Golgi tendon) organ Taste bud
Joint capsule receptor Taste pore
Gustatory receptor cells
Gustatory hairs
Stratified squamous epithelium
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Additional Notes
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Image Citations
Figure 10.1 Sympathetic Nervous System Structures
• OpenStax College (2013). Anatomy and Physiology. OpenStax College. Adapted from
https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology
Figure 10.2 Receptor Types
• Tuthill, John (2019) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Proprioception_overview-
01.jpg
• Blausen.com staff (2014) “Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014”. WikiJournal of
Medicine 1 (2) DOI:10.15347/wim/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436
Figure 10.3 Olfactory Epithelium
• OpenStax College (2016). Biology. OpenStax College. Adapted from
https://openstax.org/details/books/biology-2e
• OpenStax College (2013). Anatomy and Physiology. OpenStax College. Adapted from
https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology
Figure 10.4 Taste Buds
• OpenStax College (2013). Anatomy and Physiology. OpenStax College. Adapted from
https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology
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