SENSORY

MECHANISM
ALMOZARA
FRANCISCO
VILLAFLORES
LORENZO
 SENSORY ORGANS
 A sensory organ is a specialised organ that allows for the
reception of a stimulus, the formation of an impulse and it’s
transmission to the brain for interpretation.
 Your senses are means of detecting and interpreting stimuli

of you external environment.

 The main sense organs are your eyes,
ears, olfactory organs in your nose, taste
buds on your tongue and your skin.
 SENSORY system

 It is a group of subsystems used for detecting and

understanding the world around you. 

receptors

 Specialized neurons designed to obtain a particular type of

information that is then sent to a particular part of the brain. 
 Types of receptors
a. Chemoreceptors – detect ionic and molecular changes or
presence.
b. Mechanoreceptors – detect changes and fluctuations in
pressure, position, and movement.
c. Electromagnetic Receptors – detect light, radiation, and
magnetic fields. Humans only have visible light detection
in their eyes.
d. Thermoreceptors – detect hot and cold temperatures.
e. Pain Receptors – detect pressure, chemicals, and severe
heat.
 Gustation (taste)

 Gustation is the special sense associated

with the tongue. The surface of the tongue,
along with the rest of the oral cavity, is lined
by a stratified squamous epithelium. 

 The receptors for taste, called taste buds, are

situated chiefly in the tongue, but they are
also locatted in the roof of the mouth and
near the pharynx.
 GustatORY (taste)
 They are able to detect four basic tastes: salty,
sweet, bitter, and sour.

 The tongue can also detect a sensation called

“umami” from taste receptors sensitive to amino
acids..
tongue
 tongue
Taste buds: located on the tongue, some are located within other
areas of the mouth
Papillae: small elevated projections on the tongue
Types:
1. Fungiform (sweet)
2. Circumvallate (bitter), and
3. Foliate (sour) contain taste buds (all taste salty)
4. Filiform are sensitive to touch
Gustatory cells: specialized receptors located on each taste bud (50-
125 per taste.
Gustatory Nerves - connected by the cranial nerves to the medulla
oblongata  relays the message to the thalamus  to the gustatory
center of the brain where the stimulus is interpreted.
 Olfactory (smell)
 The sense of smell, or olfaction, is also responsive to
chemical stimuli. The olfactory receptor neurons are
located in a small region within the superior nasal
cavity.

 This region is referred to as the olfactory

epithelium and contains bipolar sensory neurons.

 Each olfactory sensory neuron has dendrites that

extend from the apical surface of the epithelium into
the mucus lining the cavity.
NOSE
 AUDITORY (Hearing)

 Hearing, or audition, is the transduction of sound waves

into a neural signal that is made possible by the structures
of the ear.

 The ear is a duel organ, not only is responsible for the sense
of hearing but also it functions as the organ of balance.

 The sensation of balance and hearing are both associated

with specialized receptors with hair-like mechanoreceptors
(hair cells).
 AUDITORY (Hearing)
The ear is divided into three major regions:
a. External: The auricle, ear canal, and tympanic
membrane.
b. Middle: Consists of a space spanned by three small
bones called the ossicles. The three ossicles are
the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), and stapes
(stirrup). The middle ear contains the ossicles and is
connected to the pharynx by the Eustachian tube.
c. Inner: Where the sound waves will be transduced into
a neural signal. contains the cochlea and vestibule,
which are responsible for audition and equilibrium,
respectively.
ear
 Outer ear
Pinna – ear flap
• Collects and directs sound waves into the ear

Auditory canal – channels waves to the ear drum;

houses ceruminous glands
• Ceruminous glands - secrete ear wax (cerumin)
to keep ear drum moist

Tympanic membrane – ear drum

• Catches vibrations and sends them to the bones of
the inner ear; separates the outer and middle ear
 Middle ear

Eustachian tube – connects the ear to the throat and

equalizes pressure
Ossicles:
• Hammer (malleus) – outermost bones,
receives vibrations from tympanic
membrane
• Anvil (incus) – middle bone
• Stirrup (stapes) – innermost bone,
transfers vibrations to the cochlea
 Inner ear
• Vestibule – space between the cochlea and semicircular canals
• Cochlea – snail shaped structure; fluid filled with endolymph
and perilymph; contains the organ of corti
• Organ of Corti – tiny hair-like cells that pick up vibrations
and transfer them to the auditory nerve
• Semicircular Canals – contain liquid (perilymph) and tiny
hair-like cells that blend with motion to help maintain
equilibrium
• Auditory Nerve – carries information from the ear to the
temporal lobe of the brain
• Perilymph – thin liquid in spaces of the inner ear
• Endolymph – thick liquid found in the cochlear ducts of the
inner ear
 Tactility (touch)

 Considered a general sense, as opposed to the special

senses discussed in this section.
 Group of sensory modalities that are associated with
touch, proprioception, and interoception.
 These modalities include pressure, vibration, light touch,
tickle, itch, temperature, pain, proprioception, and
kinesthesia.
 Specialized nerve receptors are located in the dermal
layers of the skin which are sensitive to pressure
associated with touch, heat, cold, and pain.
Tactility (touch)
 Skin receptors

Skin:
I. Free nerve endings:
a. Nocireceptors: Temperature, mechanical (pain,
itching, tickle, stretching) Dermis
b. Merkel Discs: Light pressure, mechanical
(discriminative touch) Dermis
c. Root Hair lexus: Hair movement, mechanical
dermis
 Skin receptors

II. Encapsulated Nerve Endings:

a. Meissner’s Corpuscle: light pressure mechanical,
Located in hairless areas, palms or hands and soles
of feet. (discriminative touch, vibrations.) Dermis
b. Ruffini’s Corpuscle: mechanical, thermal (rough and
persistent touch) Dermis
c. Krauses Corpuscle: mechanical, thermal (touch, low
frequency vibrations) Dermis of mucus membranes
d. Pacinian corpuscle: Deep pressure, mechanical (deep
pressure, stretch, and high frequency vibrations)
Dermis of skin and joint capsules
 MUSCLE RECEPTORS

Muscle
I. Encapsulated Nerve Endings
a. Muscle Spindles: stretch, mechanical, sense
of muscle length, all skeletal muscle
b. Golgi Tendon Receptors: stretch
mechanical, muscle tension
 VISION
 Vision is the special sense of sight that is based on
the transduction of light stimuli received through
the eyes.

 It converts light energy into electrical nerve

impulses which are then interpreted by the brain as
sight.

 Contains receptors for vision and a refracting

system that focuses light rays on the receptors in
the retina.
 The eye

 Sclera – the white of the eye

• Holds the shape and protects the inner eye
 Lens – directs images to the retina; helps focus on images
by changing shape
 Lacrimal Gland – produces tears
• Tears cleanse and moisten they eye, kills bacteria
 Pupil – a space in the iris where light enters
 Iris – the colored part of the eye; muscular
• Controls the amount of light entering the eye by
changing the size of the pupil
 Choroid Coat – middle of the 3 eye layers; has dark
pigment to keep light from scattering
 THE EYE
 Aqueous Humor – watery substance anterior to the lens;
helps maintain shape of eye ball and refracts light
 Vitreous Humor – jelly-like substance found posterior to the
lens inside the eyeball; helps maintain eyeball shape and
refracts light
 Ciliary Body – muscle that controls the shape of the lens
 Suspensory Ligaments – hold the lens in place
 Retina – interior most layer of the eye
• Rich in nerve cells
• Rods – cells for dim light
• Cones – receptor cells for sensitivity to bright light
(color)
 The eye
 Macula – center region of the retina; area for sharp
central vision
 Optic Nerve – carries impulse from the retina to the
occipital lobe of the brain
 Optic Disk – blind spot; no receptors therefore no
vision
 Fovea Centralis – site of cones
 Extrafovial Region – area of rods
• Also where peripheral vision occurs
Eye STRUCTURE
 EYE DISORDER
e
 Myopia – nearsighted
• The eye is long so the image forms in front of the
retina
 Hyperopia – farsighted
• The eye is short so the image forms behind the retina
 Cataracts – clouding of the lens, usually due to aging
 Strabismus – cross-eyes; eye muscles are not properly
coordinated