KNES 385 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Stimulus Modality, Afferent Nerve Fiber, Sensory Neuron
27 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Pns: parts of the nervous system outside of the cns. A neuron that carries sensory info from the pns into the cns- also called the primary afferent. Before entering the cns, the axons of the primary sensory afferents travel in nerves that are part of the pns. Adequate stimulus: natural stimulus that we will activate the receptors, the unique stimulus that activates a specific receptor at low energy level, roughly speaking, it is the stimulus that natural activates the receptor. Example- low levels of light activate the photoreceptors in the eye light is the adequate stimulus for photoreceptors. Pressure, but each receptor will have own stimulus. Modality: a general class of stimulus, determined by the type of energy transmitted by the stimulus and the receptors specialized to sense that energy, since ancient times, give modalities are recognized. Vision, hearing (vibration), touch (mechanic response), taste and smell: now we recognize additional modalities. The vestibular sense of balance: the soma sensory modalities.
