Sensory receptors and neural

circuits
Haytham Eloqayli

Sensory receptors
Sensory receptors: organs which detect
sensory stimuli .
Sensory stimuli: sensation modality (touch,
sound, light, pain, cold, and warmth..etc)

Sensory receptors
Mechanoreceptors: detect mechanical compression or stretching
of tissues

Thermoreceptors: detect changes in temperature

Nociceptors (pain receptors): detect tissue damage ( physical
or chemical damage)

Chemoreceptors: detect taste in the mouth, smell in the nose,

oxygen level ..etc.

electromagnetic receptors: detect light on the retina

Sensory receptors

Sensory receptors
Sensory stimulus change in receptor membrane
permeability open ion channels allows ions to flow
through membrane channels change in
transmembrane potential receptor potential.
When the receptor potential rises above the threshold for
eliciting action potentials in the nerve fiber attached to
the receptor starts action potentials in the nerve
The nerve transmit the action potentials to the CNS.

The sensations are transmitted from the receptor

to the CNS as impulses (action potentials)

Sensory receptors
How do two types of sensory receptors detect
different types of sensory stimuli?
and
If the sensory modalities is transmitted as
action potentials, how do we experience
these different modalities of sensations?

Sensory receptors
-differential sensitivities of the receptor: each type of
receptor is highly sensitive to one type of stimulus for which it is
designed and nonresponsive to other types of sensory stimuli.
-labeled

line principle: each type of nerve fibers transmitt only

one modality of sensation

-each nerve fiber (or tract) terminates at a specific point in

the CNS, and the type of sensation felt when a nerve
fiber is stimulated is determined by the point in the
nervous system where the nerve fiber terminate.

Sensory receptors
Receptors characters:
Range of response
Adaptation

Sensory receptors
progressive stronger stimulus progressive increase in the receptor
potential progressive increase frequency of repetitive action
potentials (if receptor potential above the threshold)
In another word: frequency of action potentials transmitted from
sensory receptors increases approximately in proportion to the
increase in receptor potential.

This allows the receptor to have an extreme range of

response, from very weak to very intense according
to the stimulus intensity and change in stimulus
intensity.

Sensory receptors

Sensory receptors
Adaptation of Receptors
Rapidly adapting Rc (Rated receptors):
pacinian and hair receptors
detect the change in stimulus strength (detect movement)

Slowly adapting Rc (Tonic receptors):

joint capsule, muscle spindle
detect continuous stimulus strength (give report to the brain about
the status of the body).

Non adapting Rc: pain receptors and chemoreceptor

Sensory receptors

Sensory receptors
Nerve Fibers which transmit the signal:
Types
Modality of sensation each one transmit
Nerve different intensity transmission of Signals

Sensory receptors
Types:
1st classification:
A (large myelinated): fast transmission
C (small un myelinated): slow transmission.
2nd classification
Group I (a,b), II, III, IV.

Sensory receptors
A,,: muscle spindle, muscle tendon (Golgi organ)
A: fast pain, temperature, crude touch
C: slow pain, crude touch.

Sensory receptors
Spatial Summation: increasing signal strength
is transmitted by using progressively greater
numbers of fibers.
Temporal Summation: increasing signal
strength is transmitted by increasing the
frequency of nerve impulses in each fiber.

Sensory receptors
CNS is composed of neuronal pools with
different mechanisms of signal processing.
Excitation
Facilitation
Inhibition
Convergence
Divergence

Sensory receptors
discharge of a single excitatory presynaptic terminal almost
never causes an action potential in a postsynaptic
neuron.
large numbers of input terminals (presyneptic) must
stimulate the postsynaptic neuron simultaneously or in
rapid succession to cause excitation

Sensory receptors
Excitatory stimulus(suprathreshold stimulus):

enough presyneptic terminals which discharge to cause

an action potential in the postsynapse.

Facilitated (subthreshold): presyneptic terminals

which discharge is not enough to cause postsyneptic

action potential but it makes the post synepse easy to
stimulate.

Inhibition: some preseyneptic action potentials cause

inhibitory postsyneptic signal (inhibit neurons, rather than

exciting them)

Sensory receptors

Sensory receptors
Convergence of Signals: multiple inputs uniting to
excite a single neuron

Divergence of Signals: the input neurons divided to 2

or more divisions.

amplifying type: input signal spreads to an increasing

number of neurons

divergence into multiple tracts: input signal is

transmitted in two or more directions

Sensory receptors

Sensory receptors