PSYCH 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Rodent, Somatotopic Arrangement, Thalamus
Document Summary
Organized by frequency of sound - tonotopic map. Mechanoreceptors (referring to a cell, like photoreceptors) sense light touch (touch that"s not painful), pressure, vibration and stretch, responding to mechanical stimulus. Use mechanically gated channels, the neuron is very close to the surface of the skin, at rest (no stimulus) they are closed, when their is a stimulus (touch), the mechanoreceptors are opened. Na+ goes into the cell, makes inside positive, don"t call it a epsp b/c not post- synaptic (no neuron releasing neurotransmitter on it), causes graded potential and if strong enough causes action potential which goes into sensory system. Nociceptors sense painful stimuli that can damage body. Extreme temperature, extreme pressures, chemicals released by damaged tissues (when you cut yourself, the cells that are breaking open are releasing chemicals) Proprioceptors are in skeletal muscles and they sense muscle length and tension.
