Gustation / Olfaction
What type of receptors are used in taste and smell?
Answer: Chemoreceptors
What is the function of the cochlea?
Answer: Converts sound waves into neural signals
What type of receptors are used in vision?
Answer: Photoreceptors
What is anosmia?
Answer: Loss of smell
What part of the ear is responsible for balance?
Answer: Inner ear
What are the five basic tastes recognized in gustation?
Answer: Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami
Name the three ossicles in the middle ear.
Answer: Malleus, incus, stapes
What are the two types of photoreceptors?
Answer: Rods and cones
What is tinnitus?
Answer: Ringing in the ears (phantom sound)
Which structures detect head position?
Answer: Utricle and saccule
Which ions are responsible for salty and sour taste?
Answer: Na⁺ (salty) and H⁺ (sour)
What structure actually vibrates first when sound enters the ear?
Answer: Tympanic membrane (eardrum)
Which part of the eye provides the sharpest vision?
Answer: Fovea centralis
What is vertigo?
Answer: False sense of movement or spinning
Which structures detect rotational movement?
Answer: Semicircular canals
How does olfaction differ from other senses in terms of brain pathway?
Answer: It does NOT synapse in the thalamus before reaching the corte
What ion is responsible for depolarizing hair cells in hearing?
Answer: Potassium (K⁺)
What happens to retinal when light hits it?
Answer: It changes from 11-cis to all-trans (photoisomerization)
What causes glaucoma?
Answer: Increased intraocular pressure damaging retinal neurons
What role do otoliths play in equilibrium?
Answer: Add weight to membrane to detect gravity and head tilt
Explain how taste receptor cells are activated and how signals are transmitted to the brain.
Answer: Chemicals dissolve in saliva, bind to ionotropic receptors → Ca²⁺ influx depolarizes cells → neurotransmitter release → signals travel via facial, glossopharyngeal, and vagus nerves
Describe how sound waves are converted into neural signals in the cochlea.
Answer: Sound → tympanic membrane → ossicles → oval window → fluid waves → basilar membrane movement → stereocilia bend → K⁺ influx → depolarization → neurotransmitter release → CN VIII to brain
Explain how light is converted into a neural signal in the retina.
Answer: Light hits photopigments → retinal changes shape → activates G-protein → changes membrane potential → less neurotransmitter released → signal passed to bipolar cells → ganglion cells → optic nerve → brain
Compare cataracts and glaucoma in terms of cause and effect on vision.
Answer: Cataracts = cloudy lens → blurry vision; Glaucoma = pressure damages retina → permanent vision loss
Explain how hair cells detect movement and send signals for balance.
Answer: Movement shifts fluid → bends stereocilia → opens ion channels → depolarization → signals sent via vestibulocochlear nerve to brain