BIOL-108 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Detection Theory, Absolute Threshold, Sensory Neuron
Document Summary
Detection of physical energy by sense organs. Magnetic field navigation, can detect magnetic fields: pigeons. Sharks have electroreceptors: allows them to pick up heartbeat of animals nearby. Transduction: process by which we take stimulus and convert to neural activity. Light, sound, touch) into electrical signals in neurons: eye light, ear sound, skin pressure, pain, temperature. Sense receptor: specialized cell tranduces specific stimulus, within sense organ. Synesthesia: experience cross modal sensations, coloured hearing, tasting colours, grapheme colour, a 6 is always red and a 5 is always blue. Lexical taste: words have associated tastes, early reports 1 % of population, found in 23 % of fine arts students, more common in women. Infants/ children may be naturally biased: associate certain shapes/letters with colours, pru(cid:374)i(cid:374)g has(cid:374)"t happe(cid:374)ed. The great mystery: binding problem: how does the brain bind diverse sensory information to form whole, chara(cid:272)teristi(cid:272)s i(cid:374) isolatio(cid:374) do(cid:374)"t help, able to keep characteristics separate, hypotheses, rapid coordinated activity across multiple cortical association areas.