PSYCH 2NF3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Mechanoreceptor, Proprioception, Thalamus
11 Mar 2014
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Receptors are energy filters: designed to respond only to a narrow band of energy within ach modality"s energy spectrum, we refer to people who lack receptors for parts of the usual visual spectrum as being colour deficient or colour blind, there are also differences in the visual receptors of individual people who see the usual range of colour, for each species and individual, sensory systems filter the possible sensory world to produce an idiosyncratic representation of reality. Somatosensory receptors in turn generate action potentials: for taste and olfaction, various chemical molecules carried by the air or contained in food fit themselves into receptors of various shapes to activate action potentials, for pain sensation, tissue damage releases a chemical that acts like a neurotransmitter to activate pain fibers and thus produce action potentials, the dendrite of a somatosensory neuron is wrapped around the base of the hair.
