Physiology 2130 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Temporal Lobe, Cochlear Nerve, Eustachian Tube
1 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
To maintain homeostasis, its necessary for the body to detect changes in the external environment so it can react appropriately to maintain its internal environment. Sensory systems allow the body to detect external changes: somatosensory (touch, visual, auditory and vestibular, olfactory (smell, gustatory (taste) The events in the outside world are detected, converted to action potentials, travel to the brain, become consciously perceived. Transduction of environmental information is how information from the external environment is turned into the language the brain understands action potentials. For the brain to consciously perceive an environmental stimulus, that stimulus must be detected by a sensory receptor. Light energy is absorbed by photoreceptors of the eye (rods and cones in the retina) and eventually produces action potentials. Gravity and motion can be detected by hair cells in the vestibular system which converts this form of external stimulus to action potentials.
