The Special Senses

Chapter 16B

Smell, taste, vision, hearing and equilibrium

Housed in complex sensory organs

The Special Senses

Olfactory Epithelium

Chemical Senses

The receptors for

olfaction are in the
nasal epithelium in
the superior portion of
the nasal cavity

Interaction of molecules with chemoreceptor cells

Olfaction (smell) and gustation (taste)
Both project to cerebral cortex & limbic system
evoke strong emotional reactions

Cells of the Olfactory Membrane

Physiology of Olfaction - Overview

Olfactory receptors

Genetic evidence suggests there are hundreds of

primary scents
Odorant molecules bind to receptor proteins and
nerve impulses are triggered

bipolar neurons with cilia

(olfactory hairs)
combine to form olfactory
(I) nerve

Basal cells = stem cells

replace receptors monthly

Olfactory glands
produce mucus

Gustatory Sensation: Taste

Odor Thresholds & Adaptation

Taste is a chemical sense

To be detected, molecules must be
dissolved
5 classes of stimuli: sour, sweet,
bitter, salty & umami (savory/meaty/
glutamate)
Other tastes are a combination of
the 5 primary taste sensations plus
olfaction

Low threshold
only a few molecules need to be present
methyl mercaptan added to natural gas as warning

Adaptation = decreasing sensitivity

Olfactory adaptation is rapid

Taste buds found on sides of

papillae

50% in 1 second
complete in 1 minute for some strong odors

Physiology of Taste

Anatomy of Taste Buds

Mechanism
dissolved substance contacts gustatory hairs
receptor potential results in neurotransmitter release
nerve impulse formed in first-order neuron

An oval body consisting of

50 receptor cells plus
basal cells and supporting
cells
Each receptor cell
contains a single
gustatory hair (microvillus)

Thresholds for tastes vary among the 4 primary

tastes
most sensitive to bitter (poisons)
least sensitive to salty and sweet

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Accessory Structures of Eye

VISION

Eyelids
Conjunctiva

More than half the sensory receptors in the human

body are located in the eyes.
A large part of the cerebral cortex is devoted to
processing visual information.

mucous
membrane
lines the
inner
eyelids
folds back
on surface
of the
eyeball

Extrinsic eye
muscles

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Eyelids, Eyelashes &

Eyebrows

Lacrimal Apparatus

Help protect from foreign

objects, perspiration &
sunlight
Tarsal glands
type of sebaceous (oil) gland
keeps eyelids from sticking to
each other
slows evaporation of tears
blocked gland can cause sty

Lacrimal glands produce tears

Spread over eyes by blinking
Contains bactericidal enzyme lysozyme
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Fibrous Tunic

3 Tunics (Layers) of the Eyeball

Cornea

Fibrous
Tunic
(outer
layer)
Vascular
Tunic
(middle
layer)
Nervous
Tunic
(inner
layer)

Transparent
Helps focus light (refraction)
Transplants
common & successful
no blood vessels so no antibodies
to cause rejection
nourished by tears & aqueous
humor

Sclera
White of the eye

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Vascular Tunic

Vascular Tunic -- Muscles of the Iris

Choroid
melanocytes & blood vessels
provides nutrients to retina

Ciliary body
ciliary muscle
alters shape of lens

Iris
colored portion of eye
melanocytes and smooth
muscle
hole in center is pupil
function is to regulate amount of
light entering eye

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Nervous Tunic -- Retina

Lines posterior 3/4 of
eyeball
Optic disc (blind spot)

Lens

optic (II) nerve exiting back

of eyeball

Blood vessels
nourishment to retina
visible for inspection
hypertension, macular
disease & diabetes

Avascular
Crystallin proteins arranged like layers in an onion
Connected to ciliary body
Focuses light on retina
With aging the lens loses elasticity resulting in presbyopia

Macula lutea
central fovea

View with Ophthalmoscope

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Detached retina
trauma (boxing)
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Photoreceptors - Rods & Cones

Layers of Retina

Rods -- rod shaped

Pigmented epithelium
absorbs stray light &
helps keep image clear

3 layers of neurons

shades of gray in dim light

120 million rod cells
shapes & movements
distributed along periphery

Cones -- cone shaped

photoreceptor layer
bipolar neuron layer
ganglion neuron layer

sharp, color vision in bright light

6 million cone cells
central fovea of macula lutea
high concentration of cones
no rods
at exact visual axis of eye
bipolar & ganglion cells do
not cover cones in this region
sharpest resolution
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Cavities of the Interior of Eyeball

Pathway of Nerve Signal in Retina

Anterior cavity

Light penetrates retina

Rods & cones change light
into action potentials
Rods & cones excite
bipolar cells
Bipolars excite ganglion
cells
Axons of ganglion cells
form optic (II) nerve leaving
the eyeball (blind spot)
To thalamus & then the
primary visual cortex

filled with aqueous humor

produced by ciliary body
continually drained into canal of
Schlemm

Vitreous chamber
filled with vitreous body (jellylike)
formed once during embryonic life
floaters are debris in vitreous body

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Intraocular Pressure

Major Processes of Image Formation

Intraocular pressure is controlled mainly by the

aqueous humor
The intraocular pressure and the vitreous body
maintain the shape of the eyeball and keep the
retina smoothly applied to the choroid
Glaucoma

Constriction/dilation of the pupil

controls amount of light entering the eye

Refraction of light
by cornea & lens

Accommodation of the lens

changing shape of lens so that light is focused

increased intraocular pressure

problem with drainage of aqueous humor
may produce degeneration of the retina and blindness

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Refraction by the Cornea & Lens

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Correction for Refraction Problems

Image focused on retina is inverted

& reversed from left to right
Brain learns to work with that
information
Light rays from > 20 are nearly
parallel and only need to be bent
enough to focus on retina
Light rays from < 6 are more
divergent & need more refraction
Accommodation is an increase in
the curvature of the lens, initiated
by ciliary muscle contraction, which
allows the lens to focus on near
objects

Emmetropia (normal)
Myopia (nearsighted)
eyeball is too long from front to
back
glasses concave

Hypermetropia (farsighted)
eyeball is too short
glasses convex

Astigmatism
corneal surface wavy
parts of image out of focus

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Photoreceptors

Physiology of Vision

Named for shape of outer

segment
Receptors transduce light
energy into a receptor
potential
Photopigments

The first step in vision transduction is the

absorption of light by photopigments in rods and
cones
Photopigments undergo structural changes upon
light absorption
Retinal is the light absorbing part of photopigments
Photopigments also contain a protein called opsin

opsin (protein) + retinal

(derivative of vitamin A)

There are 4 different opsins

Cones contains one of three different kinds
permit the absorption of 3 different wavelengths
(colors) of light
Rods contain a single type (rhodopsin)
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Color Blindness & Night Blindness

Regeneration of Bleached Photopigments

Color blindness

Bleaching and regeneration of the

photopigments accounts for light and dark
adaptation

inability to distinguish between certain colors

inherited deficiency in one of the three cone photopigments
red-green color blind person can not tell red from green

After complete bleaching, it takes 5 minutes to

regenerate 1/2 of the rhodopsin
Full regeneration of bleached rhodopsin takes 30
to 40 minutes
Rods contribute little to daylight vision, since they
are bleached as fast as they regenerate
Only 90 seconds are required to regenerate the cone
photopigments

Night blindness (nyctalopia)

difficulty seeing in low light
inability to make normal amount of rhodopsin
possibly due to deficiency of vitamin A

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External Ear

Anatomy of the Ear Region

The external (outer) ear collects

sound waves and passes them
inwards
Structures
auricle or pinna
elastic cartilage covered with skin
external auditory canal
ceruminous glands produce cerumen = ear wax
tympanic membrane or eardrum

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Middle Ear Cavity

Middle Ear Cavity

Air filled cavity in the temporal bone

Separated from external ear by
eardrum and from internal ear by
oval & round windows
3 ear ossicles
malleus attached to eardrum
incus
stapes attached to oval window

Auditory (Eustachian) tube leads to nasopharynx

helps to equalize pressure on both sides of eardrum

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Inner Ear Labyrinth

Cranial nerves of the Ear Region

Carved out of temporal bone

Fluid-filled membranous ducts
Contain sensory receptors for
Hearing cochlea
Balance vestibule (utricle & saccule), 3 semicircular ducts & ampulla

Vestibulocochlear nerve = cranial nerve VIII

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Overview of Physiology of Hearing

Physiology of Hearing - Overview

Auricle collects sound waves

Eardrum vibrates
Ossicles vibrate
Stapes pushes on oval window producing fluid
pressure waves in cochlea
Pressure fluctuations inside cochlear duct move
the hair cells against the tectorial membrane
Microvilli are bent producing receptor potentials

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Cochlear Anatomy Zoom Out

Cochlear
Anatomy
Zoom In

Fluid vibrations affect hair cells in cochlear duct

3 fluid filled channels found within the cochlea

scala vestibuli, scala tympani and cochlear duct

Vibration of the stapes upon the oval window sends vibrations

into the fluid of the scala vestibuli

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Organ of Corti

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Sound Waves
Sound waves result from the alternate compression
and decompression of air molecules
Frequency of a sound vibration is percieved as pitch
higher frequency is higher pitch
speech is 100 to 3000 hertz (Hz)

The volume of a sound is its intensity (amplitude)

Projecting over and in contact with the microvilli of hair cells is
the tectorial membrane, a delicate and flexible gelatinous
membrane
Pressure fluctuations move the hair cells against the tectorial
membrane
Bending of the microvilli produces receptor potentials
Leads to the generation of nerve impulses in cochlear nerve

the greater the amplitude of the vibration, the louder the

sound
conversation is ~60 decibels (dB)
OSHA requires ear protection above 90 dB

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Pitch and Volume

Deafness

High-frequency (high-pitch) tone causes the

membrane to vibrate near the base of the cochlea
Low-frequency (low-pitch) tone causes the
membrane to vibrate near the apex of the cochlea
Sounds of the same pitch vibrate the same region
of the membrane, and thus stimulate the same cells
Louder sound causes a greater vibration amplitude
which our brain interprets as louder

Nerve deafness
possibly nerve damage (CN VIII)
usually damage to hair cells
from antibiotics, loud sounds, anticancer drugs,
meningitis or congenital

Conduction deafness
vibrations are not conducted to hair cells
perforated eardrum
otosclerosis: overgrowth of spongy bone over the
oval window that immobilizes the stapes

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Vestibular Apparatus

Cochlear Implants
If deafness is due to destruction of hair cells
Microphone, microprocessor & electrodes
translate sounds into electric stimulation of
the vestibulocochlear nerve
artificially induced nerve signals follow normal
pathways to brain

Semicircular ducts with ampulla

Vestibule (utricle & saccule)
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The Macula
Physiology of Equilibrium (Balance)
Static equilibrium
maintain the position of the body (head) relative to the
force of gravity
macula receptors within saccule & utricle

Dynamic equilibrium

The maculae of the utricle and saccule are the sense organs
of static equilibrium
Hair cells with stereocilia
Gelatinous otolithic membrane contains calcium carbonate
crystals called otoliths that move when you tip your head

maintain body position (head) during sudden movement

of any type -- rotation, deceleration or acceleration
crista receptors within ampulla of semicircular ducts

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Detection of Position of Head

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Membranous Semicircular Ducts

The three semicircular ducts, along with the saccule
and utricle maintain dynamic equilibrium
anterior, posterior & horizontal ducts detect different
movements (combined 3-D sensitivity)

The cristae in the ampulla of the semicircular ducts

are the primary sense organs of dynamic
equilibrium

Movement of stereocilia results in the release of

neurotransmitter onto the vestibular branches of the
vestibulocochler nerve (VIII)
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Crista: Ampulla of Semicircular Ducts

Detection of Rotational Movement

Small elevation within each of three semicircular ducts

Hair cells are covered with cupula (gelatinous material)
When you move, the cupula moves, but the fluid in canal
tends to stay in place, thus dragging on the cupula, bending
the hair cells and causing the release of neurotransmitter

Nerve signals to the brain are generated indicating

which direction the head has been rotated
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AGING AND THE SPECIAL SENSES

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DISORDERS: HOMEOSTATIC IMBALANCES

After age 50 some individuals experience loss of olfactory

and gustatory receptors
Age related changes in the ears

Otitis media is an acute infection of the middle ear,

primarily by bacteria
Characterized by pain, malaise, fever, and
reddening and outward bulging of the eardrum,
which may rupture unless prompt treatment is given
Children are more susceptible than adults

Presbycusis hearing loss due to damaged or loss of hair cells in

the organ of Corti
Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) becomes more common

Age related changes in the eyes

Presbyopia
Cataracts (loss of transparency of the lens )
Diseases such as age related macular disease, detached retina, and
glaucoma
Decrease in tear production
Sharpness of vision as well as depth and color perception are
reduced
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