THE SENSES THE GENERAL SENSES

• We use our senses to gather and respond to

information about our environment which aids our
survival. Each sense provides different information
which are combined and interpreted by the brain.
• Means by which the brain receives information about
the environment and the body

❖ General
o distributed over large part of body
• Somatic
o touch, pressure, temperature,
proprioception, pain
• Visceral
o internal organs and consist mostly of pain
and pressure
SENSORY RECEPTORS
❖ Special senses
o smell, taste, sight, hearing, balance
• nerve endings, or specialized cells capable of
• Sensation or perception responding to stimuli by developing action potentials.
o the conscious awareness of stimuli received Several types of receptors are associated with both
by sensory receptors the general and the special senses, and as previously
▪ sensation enables us to mentioned, each of these sensory receptors respond
understand what is happening to different types of stimuli.
around us. It is an awareness of
• Large complex organs (eyes, ears)
something and knowing that
• Localized clusters of receptors (taste buds, olfactory
something exists or is actually
epithelium)
happening.

TYPES OF SENSORY RECEPTORS

• many of the receptors for the general senses are

associated with the skin, and others are associated with
deeper structures such as tendons, ligaments and
SPECIAL SENSES muscles.

• smell
• taste • Mechanoreceptors
• sight o Compression, bending, stretching of cells
• hearing • Chemoreceptors
• “touch” = temperature + pressure + pain of skin, o Smell and taste
muscles and joints • Thermoreceptors
• Equilibrium (in the ear) o Temperature
• Photoreceptors
• For a number of years, the sense of touch is considered o Light as vision
a special sense. New pieces of evidence and literatures, • Nociceptors
however, suggest that it is part of the General Senses. o Pain
Action and equilibrium or balance is now considered as • Exteroreceptors
the fifth special sense to replace the sense of touch o Associated with skin
under the division of the special senses • Visceroreceptors
o Associated with organs
• Proprioceptors
o Associated with joints, tendons

SENSORY NERVE ENDINGS

• Free nerve endings

o Cold receptors and warm
o Structurally, the simplest and the most
common receptors, which are relatively
unspecialized neuronal branches, similar to
the dendrites.
o distributed throughout almost all parts of
the body, and some of these can respond to

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 painful stimuli, some to temperature, some ▪ Two-point discrimination is the
to itch, and some to movement body's ability to detect
simultaneous simulation of two
receptors for temperature are either cold or warm receptors. points on the skin. And we can test
this by using a U-shape paper clip
• Cold receptors respond to decreasing or a compass perhaps and then
temperatures. However, they would stop apply the two ends of the paper
responding or producing action potentials at clip or the compass on the
temperatures below 12 degrees centigrade, or 54 person's skin, and then we simply
degrees Fahrenheit. ask whether the person can
• Warm receptors respond to increasing actually feel the two ends of the
temperatures but would have a limit and stop compass spin or of the paper clip.
responding at temperatures above 47 degrees ▪ Normally the farther the ends are,
centigrade, or 170 degrees Fahrenheit. the person is able to easily discern
the two points of stimuli, but the
nearer or closer the ends, the
that explains why it is sometimes difficult for us to distinguish person will feel seemingly that
very cold from very warm objects touching the skin because there is only one source of
only then that pain receptors are stimulated stimulus.
• Ruffini’s end organ
Only the pain receptors will be stimulated at temperatures o deeper tactile receptors
below 12 degrees centigrade or above 47 degrees o Continuous touch or pressure
centigrade, so there is no longer the discrimination whether o located in the dermis of the skin, primarily in
the surface or the object touching us are either Cold or warm the fingers, and they respond to pressure
because at that particular point below 12 degrees centigrade on the skin directly superficial to the
or 47 degrees centigrade Cold and warm receptors are receptor and, at the same time, at the
already incapable of responding, so it is only the pain stretch of the adjacent skin
receptors that would be activated by them. • Muscle spindle
o Proprioception as to muscle stretch and
control of muscle tone
TOUCH RECEPTORS o Specialized muscle fibers that are located in
• Touch receptors are structurally more complex than the the skeletal muscles and they provide
free nerve endings, and many are enclosed by capsules. information about the length of the muscle.
So these are also important to the control
and tone of postural muscles. That's why
TYPE OF TOUCH RECEPTORS: they are involved in proprioception.
▪ happens when the muscle is
• Merkel’s disk stretched and it activates a stretch
o small, superficial nerve endings reflex so that there is an increased
o Light touch, superficial pressure tone in the muscle involved.
• Hair follicle receptor ▪ If you stretch your arms either the
o associated with hairs right or the left, and then touch
o Light touch, bending of hair your biceps muscles and your
• light touch receptors are very sensitive, however they brachialis so you will feel that they
are not very discriminative, meaning that the point being are tone or they are firm compared
touch cannot be precisely located. to when they are flexed. So as you
flex your elbows you may also now
• Pacinian corpuscle notice that the triceps brachii get
o deepest receptors are associated with firmed and also the flexor carpi
tendons and joints ulnaris muscle on the posterior
o Deep cutaneous pressure, vibration and
forearm.
proprioception
▪ this happens because of the
o relay information concerning deep activation of the muscle spindles
pressure, vibration and proprioception, or wherein it reacts to the stretch
simply position. reflex producing an increased tone
in the muscle or muscles involved.
• proprioception is the perception or self-awareness of
• Golgi tendon organ
the position and movement of the body.
o Important in muscle contraction and tendon
• In medical terms, it is also called kinesthesia, so
stretch proprioception
kinesthesia or proprioception is the body's ability to
o proprioceptive receptors associated with
sense its own location, its movements and actions. So
the fibers of a tendon near its junction with a
please do not forget this definition of proprioception.
muscle.
o activated by an increase in tendon tension
• Meissner’s corpuscle caused by muscle contraction or the
o Two-point discrimination tendons on passive stretch.
o receptors for fine discriminative touch
o located just deep to the epidermis
o very specific in localizing tactile sensations.
o more numerous in the tongue and the
fingertips, and they are less numerous in
the areas of the back.
o That is why they are able to discriminate
between two points.

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INTEGRATION OF NERVOUS SYSTEM FUNCTIONS will generate action potentials that
will be propagated towards the
CNS and where it is processed.
Hence sensation is felt.
▪ will have first to release
neurotransmitters in order for the
potentials to be propagated
towards the CNS.
• Accommodation or adaptation
o Decreased sensitivity to a persistent or
continued stimulus
o example of this is when we get dressed.
Initially, as we put our clothes on, the
texture of the clothes we wear are
discernible. We know how they feel.
However, as we continue wearing them
throughout the day, we do not necessarily
get bothered by the texture anymore, So
MUSCLE SPINDLE AND GOLGI TENDON ORGAN this happens when the receptors adapt,
even though the stimulus is continuously
applied.
• Proprioceptors
o Tonic
▪ An example is you know where
little finger is without looking
▪ example is when you know where
the little finger is without exactly
looking where it is.
▪ slow in adaptation
o Phasic
▪ An example is you know where
hand is as it moves
▪ fast adapting and are most
RESPONSE OF SENSORY RECEPTORS sensitive to changes in stimuli
o we are not really conscious about tonic and
• After identifying different receptors, their sites and phasic proprioception, because the higher brain
stimulation, it is also important for us to understand how centers would ignore them most of the time.
the different receptors would produce a response or However, through selective and deliberate
series of responses, and these responses are what we awareness, we can actually call up the
call sensations. information when we wish.
o example of this is Do you know where
your right hand was 5 minutes back?
• Receptors As you listen to this lecture? Have you
o Interaction of stimulus with sensory moved your camp within the past two
receptor produces a local potential minutes or not? So you alone can
o Primary answer these questions because you
▪ Have axons that conduct action are the only one aware of your Body’s
potential in response to receptor of movement or action
potential
▪ many primary receptors, such as SENSORY NERVE TRACTS (PATHWAYS)
mechanoreceptors,
photoreceptors, thermoreceptors, • Transmit action potentials from the periphery to brain
and the others, activate the • Each pathway is involved with specific modalities
receptors immediately, causing an • First half of word indicates origin, second half
action potential indicates termination
▪ Immediate action potential in o If you say ANTERIOR SPINOTHALAMIC
response to the receptor potential TRACT, this would refer to the front side
o Secondary and at the same time arising from the spine
▪ Have no axons and receptor going into the thalamus, and then later on
potentials produced do not result into the cerebral cortex.
in action potentials but cause
release of neurotransmitters
▪ examples would involve the
chemoreceptors such as those
involved in the taste and the smell
sensations
▪ When taste cells receive chemical
information or chemical stimuli,
they would now release
neurotransmitters in the synaptic
cleft that stimulates the sensory
neuron, and when the stimulation
reaches threshold, the neurons

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ASCENDING PATHWAYS

SPINOTHALAMIC SYSTEM

• Conveys cutaneous sensory information to the brain

• Unable to localize source of stimulus because there
are actually many nerve fibers that overlap within this
tract
• Divisions
o Lateral for pain and temperature
o Anterior of light touch, pressure, tickle, or
itch

How the stimulus or the information travels?

we are cued the dorsal column meaning that it would be

towards the back part, and then it will travel to the middle
portion of the truck.

• the primary neurons would enter the spinal cord. For

example, there is a stimulus that is generated, or that
is sensed by the Pacinian corpuscle and then it will
enter into the dorsal column.
• And The primary neuron will now send Ipsy laterally,
meaning to say, ipsilateral would be on the same
side, and then it would move a little bit to the side and
then synapse with the secondary neurons in the
Medulla oblongata;
How the stimulus or the information travels?
• and from this particular point, the secondary neurons
cross the opposite side of the spinal cord and ascend
• stimulus or the information travels from the free to the thalamus. And synapse with the tertiary
nerve endings, and then they synapse with the neurons once again to bring the information up to the
primary neurons, which later on will synapse or will cerebral cortex for processing and information.
communicate with the interneuron.
• At that point of the interneuron, the impulse will travel
anteriorly, then proceed laterally.
SPINOCEREBELLAR SYSTEM
o the free nerve endings will synapse with the
primary neuron enter the dorsal Point of the • Carry proprioceptive information to cerebellum
spinal cord, synapse with the interneuron
• Actual movements can be monitored and compared
and from that point there would now be a
to cerebral information representing intended
lateral movement.
movement
o That's the name Antero Lateral
• transmit proprioceptive information from the thorax,
spinothalamic tract
the upper limbs and upper lumbar region into the
• then the stimulus or the information will now be
cerebellum.
conveyed to the rest of the structure until it reaches
the thalamus, and then of course the stimuli or the • Tracts
stimulus will again synapse with the tertiary neuron o Posterior
to bring the stimulus to the somatic sensory cortex or o Anterior
to the area of the cerebral cortex for interpretation

DORSAL-COLUMN / MEDIAL-LEMNISCAL SYSTEM

• Carries sensations of
o Two-point discrimination
o Proprioception
o Pressure
o Vibration
• Tracts
o Fasciculus gracilis
o Fascículus cuneatus
• also called medial lemniscal system because of the
apparent ribbon like passage that the impulse have to
travel through as it makes its way to the brainstem

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How the stimulus or the information travels? one time.
• The brain is a processor and as such it needs time to
• Stimulus will be generated or will enter into the spinal filter and make sense of the information reaching it. You
cord and then terminate on the cerebellum, and such cannot hurry it because there are mechanisms it has to
information will be proprioceptive in nature. execute before it comes up with an.
• So the actual movements can be monitored and • you cannot let the brain recall or retrieve any information
compared to cerebral information representing the that you have not consciously allowed it to access in the
intended movement. For example, Whenever Golgi first place.
tendon organ would be stimulated, then the impulse
will travel once more into the dorsal root of the spinal
DESCENDING SPINAL PATHWAYS
cord synapse with the primary neuron, and then
ascend into the posterior spinal cerebral tract until it - nerve pathways that go down the spinal cord and
reaches the cerebellum. So that from the conscious allow the brain to control movement of the body
in from there, conscious information can be below the head.
compared with what has reached the cerebrum.
• In the spinocerebellar system, Proprioceptive DIRECT
information will be carried out into or will be put forth
into the cerebellum, not necessarily into the cerebrum. • Control muscle tone and involve conscious skilled
However, some conscious information can still be movements
compared with what has reached the desired room. • Direct synapse of upper motor neurons of cerebral
cortex with lower motor neurons in brainstem or
spinal cord
SENSORY AREAS OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX • Tracts
o Corticospinal
o Lateral
o Anterior corticobulbar

How the stimulus or the information travels?

• occur when there is direct synapse or

communication between the lower and upper motor
neurons such as this:
SENSORY AREAS OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX o the lower motor neurons would then directly
• cerebral cortex would also screen much of what it innervate the muscles to produce
receives and actually does not perceive many of the movement, so the upper motor neurons in
action potentials that reach it. the direct descending spinal pathway, it will
• Consciously, we also exhibit what we call selective just synapse or interact with the lower
awareness, which means that we are more aware of motor neurons and therefore, in the
sensations on which we focus our attention than on other neuromuscular junction, the actual potential
sensations. is generated so that movements in the
o explains why even if we receive the same muscles are now going to be executed.
information, such as this particular lecture, I am
very sure that the amount and level of retention INDIRECT
in each and every one of you would vary
greatly. • Synapse in some intermediate nucleus rather than
o there is going to be like a digression of what directly with lower motor neurons
they can hear on the auditory canal and at the
• Tracts
same time, what they see with their phones. So
o Rubrospinal
the cerebral cortex will be receiving both
stimuli at the same time, and depending on the o Vestibulospinal
selective awareness and the focus that we put o Reticulospinal
into one of the stimulus. Then that is where
more sensation will actually happen or occur.
o Some people who also experience pain may still
continue to work because they choose to focus
their attention not on the pain but on the other
stimuli that would help divert their attention
from the pain signals
• if we are all aware of the sensory information that arrive
in our cerebral cortex uses, then we would not probably
be able to function at all, because which stimulus are we
going to attend
• Although the capacity of the brain is limitless due to its
plasticity, it is also not a good idea to overwhelm it all at

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How the stimulus or the information travels? • Phantom
o Occurs in people who have appendage
• the upper motor neurons synapse in some amputated or structure removed such as
intermediate nucleus rather than directly with the tooth
lower motor neurons. o A person can feel the pain even when the
o the synapsing would be at the level of the structure that has caused the pain before, is
midbrain. Particularly that with that of the no longer present or it has been removed.
red nucleus and the substantia nigra as well o It's called Phantom because it is like a
as in the pons and it could also be ghost; the structure is no longer there, but
somewhere at the level of the spinal cord there are times when the person would feel
and this tracts would be your rubrospinal that the pain is originating from that
tract and the Reticulospinal track and when removed structure.
such Interaction occurs, Then again, the • Acute
neuromuscular junction will now stimulate o An immediate response to local or direct
the muscle fibers to execute the needed tissue injury
muscle movement. o it happens without warning.
• Chronic
what are the examples that the body uses the descending o Not a response to immediate direct tissue
spinal pathways injury
o Lingering and persistent
• When the brain has sense a feeling of pain, there are
chemicals that are going to be released, known as
your neuromodulators or endorphins and
enkephalins. They are released from the axons
originating from the CNS, decreasing now the action
potentials in the sensory tracts.
o The descending pathways such as this is
activated. That is why after some time we
somehow feel that the pain is lessened
compared to the very first time that we have
perceived this, because pain that is felt and
transmitted from the spinal cord to the
thalamus and to the cerebral cortex for
processing would occur at a faster speed. SIMPLE PAIN PATHWAY
o once the cerebral cortex would sense that
this is a pain sensation, the body would
always have a way to modulate the pain,
and the modulation will occur using the
descending spinal pathways
• The descending pathways are actually related to
Inhibitory processes that are contrasting with the
ascending pathways’ excitatory processes. So in terms
of the relay of information, the ascending spinal
pathways will send information more quickly, more than
the descending spinal patterns.

PAIN AS SELECTION

PAIN - most frequently experienced but most unwanted

sensation that we feel
- is any unpleasant sensory and at the same time,
emotional experience associated with actual or
potential tissue damage.
- highly personal and individual experience, not two How exactly do we perceive pain?
persons would actually feel the same pain.
- whatever the person says it is and existing • we can use the simple pain pathway diagram and we
whenever the person says it does can also integrate in here the concepts of the
• In the body, there are many sources of pain because of ascending as well as the descending spinal nerve
the visceral receptors that are found within the organ pathways.
• Pain as a sensation would definitely arise from any of the • when we feel pain, such as when we touch hot stove,
body’s internal organs. And when the body feels the pain sensory perceptions in our skin would send message
sensation that should signal us that there could be via the different nerve fibers which would be the
problem or an injury to any of such organs. Delta A-fibers and the C-fibers to the spinal cord and
the brainstem where the sensation of pain is going to
be registered and therefore, the information, once it
TYPES reaches the brain is processed and interpreted as
pain. So you could see very well in this particular
• Referred diagram OK that the peripheral.
o Sensation in one region of body that is felt o In the diagram, the peripheral nerve, upon
but not the source of stimulus receiving information from the peripheral
nociceptors, will now send the signals into

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 the dorsal root ganglion or into the dorsal cortex. This tract is responsible for
horn of the spinal cord. the emotional aspect of pain.
▪ We can see the major role of the • Pain signals from the face follow a different route to
dorsal horn of the spinal cord, the thalamus. First order neurons travel mainly via
which is thought of as the gate the trigeminal nerve to the brain stem, where they
through which the pain impulses synapse with second order neurons which ascend to
would actually reach the brain. the thalamus.
▪ And once pain is perceived, the • Pain from the skin, muscles and joints is called
cerebral cortex has processed the somatic pain, while pain from the internal organs is
pain information known as visceral pain.
o and then it would make its way through the o Visceral pain is often perceived at a
spinothalamic tract into the thalamus, different location in a phenomenon known
where the emotional component of the pain as referred pain.
can also be elicited, and of course it will ▪ For example, pain from a heart
synapse with the tertiary neuron, So that the attack may be felt in the left
cerebral cortex can make out the shoulder, arm, or back rather than
information, and when the information in the chest where the heart is
registers as pain, the descending pathway located. This happens because of
will be activated. the convergence of pain pathways
at the spinal cord level.
Video notes of Simple pain pathway ▪ In this example, spinal segments
• As undesirable as it might seem, pain is actually a T1 to T5 receive pain signals from
very important defense mechanism. It warns the body the heart as well as the shoulders
about potential or actual injuries or diseases so that and arms. And the brain cannot tell
protective actions can be taken. them apart because the superficial
tissues have more pain receptors
and are more often injured. It's
Basically, noxious signals send impulses to the spinal cord,
common for the brain to make an
which relays the information to the brain. The brain interprets
assumption that the pain comes
the information as pain, localizes it and sends back
from the shoulder or arm instead
instructions for the body to react.
of the heart.

• Pain sensation is mediated by pain receptors or

nociceptors, which are present in the skin,
superficial tissues and virtually all organs except for
the brain. These receptors are essentially the nerve
endings of so-called 1st order neurons in the pain
pathway.
o The axons of these neurons can be
myelinated A-type or unmyelinated C type
▪ myelinated A-fibers conduct at fast
speeds and are responsible for the
initial sharp pain perceived at the
time of injury.
▪ Unmyelinated C-fibers conduct at
slower speeds and are responsible
for a longer-lasting, dull diffusing
pain.
o 1st order neurons travel by way of spinal
nerves to the spinal cord, where they
synapse with second order neurons in the
dorsal horn.
o These second order neurons cross over to
the other side of the cord before ascending
to the brain. This is how information of pain
on the left side of the body is transmitted to
the right side of the brain and vice versa.
• There are two major pathways that carry pain signals
from the spinal cord to the brain.
o The spinothalamic Tract
▪ 2nd order neurons travel up within
the spinothalamic tract to the
thalamus, where they synapse with
3rd order neurons. 3rd order
neurons then project to their
designated locations in the
somatosensory cortex. This
pathway is involved in localization
of pain.
o The Spinoreticular Tract
▪ 2nd order neurons ascend to the
reticular formation of the brain
stem before running up to the
thalamus, hypothalamus, and the

KRIZELYN CHARM B. TABAO/PEARL ANGELI B. AGPALO BSN 1J 7