GE CLST 73A Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Retina, Biological Specificity, Research Question

• School: UCLA
• Department: General Education Clusters
• Course: GE CLST 73A
• Professor: Chandler, S.H.

Document Summary

When light enters the eye, it physically touches the ganglion, bipolar cells, then photoreceptors. Sensory receptor organs: organs specialized to detect a certain stimulus. These two work together to translate to the electrochemical language. A strong enough generator potential = threshold = action potential. They have graded potentials but don"t fire action potentials. When hair cells move, it causes stereocilia to move. 5 tastes need to be differentiated through the receptors. Calcium release modulates firing of the nerve. Cranial nerves (vagus nerve, glossopharyngeal nerve, facial nerve) Hits cortex before it hits anything else. Synapse right to the cortex, no delay. Cones are for color, rods are for black and white. When light shines on retina, we get hyperpolarization of rods/cones. Activats a cascade of reactions that lead to inactivating the enzyme that holds sodium channels open. Depolarizes some bipolar cells and hyperpolarizes others. On-center cells get depolarized when glutamate is decreased. Off-center cells get hyperpolarized when glutamate is decreased.