PSYC 2050U Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Lamellar Corpuscle, Neural Adaptation, Somatosensory System
Document Summary
Receptor cells sense forms of energy called stimuli: act as filters ignore the environmental background and converting stimuli into the language of the nervous system. Labeled lines each nerve input to the brain reports only a particular type of information: nerve inputs are different from smell and sight senses. Receptor cells convert sensory signals into electrical activity. Generator potential local change in resting potential of a receptor cell in response to stimuli, which initiate an action potential. Sensory transduction the conversion of energy into a stimulus the brain can understand. Pacinian corpuscle skin receptor innermost layer of the skin, responds to vibration and pressure. (texture: causes na+ channels to open, depolarizing the cell. Ruffini"s corpuscle detect stretching of patches of the skin where we move fingers or limbs. Free nerve endings pain, heat, cold and heat stimuli are detected by these nerves in the skin. Sensory events are encoded as streams of action potentials.
