Chapter 15

Sense Organs

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 Sensory Receptors
 Sensory receptors make it possible for the body to respond to
stimuli caused by changes occurring in the internal or external
environment
 Receptor response
 General function—responds to stimuli by converting them
to nerve impulses
 Different types of receptors respond to different stimuli
 Receptor potential
• Develops when an adequate stimulus acts on a receptor; is a graded response
• When a threshold is reached, an action potential in the sensory neuron’s axon is triggered
• Impulses travel over sensory pathways to the brain and spinal cord, where either they are
interpreted as a particular sensation or they initiate a reflex action

 Adaptation—a functional characteristic of receptors; receptor potential

decreases over time in response to a continuous stimulus, which leads
to a decreased rate of impulse conduction and a decreased intensity of
sensation
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 Sensory Receptors
 Distribution of receptors
 Receptors for special senses of smell, taste, vision,
hearing, and equilibrium are grouped into localized
areas or into complex organs
 General sense organs of somatic senses are
microscopic receptors widely distributed
throughout the body in skin, mucosa, connective
tissue, muscles, tendons, joints, and viscera

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 Sensory Receptors
 Classification of receptors by the following:
(Table 15-1)
 Location
 Type of stimulus that causes response

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 Sensory Receptors
 Classification by location
 Exteroceptors
• On or near body surface
• Often called cutaneous receptors; examples are pressure, touch, pain,
and temperature
 Visceroceptors (interoceptors)
• Located internally—often within body organs, or viscera
• Provide the body with information about internal environment; examples
are pressure, stretch, chemical changes, and hunger and thirst
 Proprioceptors: specialized type of visceroceptor
• Location limited to skeletal muscle, joint capsules, and tendons
• Provide information on body movement, orientation in space, and
muscle stretch
• Two types—tonic and phasic receptors provide positional information
on the body or body parts while at rest or during movement

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 Sensory Receptors
 Classification by stimulus detected
 Mechanoreceptors—activated when “deformed” to generate
receptor potential
 Chemoreceptors—activated by amount or changing concentration
of certain chemicals; e.g., taste and smell
 Thermoreceptors—activated by changes in temperature
 Nociceptors—activated by intense stimuli that may damage tissue;
the sensation produced is pain
 Photoreceptors—found only in the eye; respond to light stimuli if
the intensity is great enough to generate a receptor potential
 Osmoreceptors—concentrated in the hypothalamus; activated by
changes in concentration of electrolytes (osmolarity) in
extracellular fluids
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 Sensory Receptors
 Classification by structure (Figure 15-2)—divides sensory
receptors into either those with free nerve endings or those
with encapsulated nerve endings
 Free nerve endings
• Most widely distributed type of sensory receptor
• Include both exteroceptors and visceroceptors
• Called nociceptors—are primary receptors for pain
• Other sensations mediated include itching, tickling, touch, movement, and
mechanical stretching
• Primary receptors for heat and cold
• Two types of nerve fibers carry pain impulses from nociceptors to the brain:
 Acute (A) fibers—mediate sharp, intense, localized pain
 Chronic (B) fibers—mediate less intense, but more persistent, dull or aching pain

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 Sensory Receptors
 Classification by structure (cont.)
 Other free nerve ending receptors
• Root hair plexuses
 Weblike arrangements of free nerve endings around
hair follicles
• Merkel discs
 Mediate sensations of discriminative touch

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 Sensory Receptors
 Free nerve ending receptors (cont.)
 Touch and pressure receptors
 Meissner’s corpuscle (tactile corpuscle)—relatively large and superficial
in placement; mediate touch and low-frequency vibration; large numbers
in hairless skin areas such as nipples, fingertips, and lips
– Two anatomical variations of Meissner’s corpuscle:
– Krause’s end bulbs—small, with less tightly coiled dendritic endings within
their capsule; involved in touch, low-frequency vibrations
– Ruffini’s corpuscles‚ have a flattened capsule and are deeply located in the
dermis; mediate crude and persistent touch; may be secondary temperature
receptors for heat (85° to 120° F [29° C to 49° C])
 Pacinian corpuscles—large mechanoreceptors that respond quickly to
sensations of deep pressure, high-frequency vibration, and stretch;
found in deep dermis and in joint capsules—they adapt quickly, and
sensations they evoke seldom last for long periods

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 Sensory Receptors
 Free nerve ending receptors (cont.)
 Stretch receptors—two types; muscle spindles and Golgi tendon
receptors operate to provide body with information concerning
muscle length and strength of muscle contraction
 Muscle spindle—composed of 5 to 10 intrafusal fibers lying between
and parallel to regular (extrafusal) muscle fibers
– Large diameter and rapid conducting, type Ia, and smaller diameter and
slower conducting, type II, afferent fibers carry messages to brain
concerning changes in muscle length
– If length of a muscle exceeds a certain limit, a stretch reflex is initiated to
shorten the muscle, thus helping to maintain posture
 Golgi tendon organs—located at junction between muscle tissue and
tendon (Figure 15-2)
– Type Ib sensory neurons are stimulated by excessive contraction—when
stimulated, they cause muscle to relax
– Golgi tendon reflex protects muscle from tearing internally as a result of
excessive contractile force
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 Special Senses
 Characterized by receptors grouped closely
together or grouped in specialized organs;
senses of smell, taste, hearing, equilibrium,
and vision

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 Sense of Smell
 Olfactory receptors
 Olfactory sense organs consist of epithelial support
cells and specialized olfactory receptor neurons
(Figure 15-4)
• Olfactory cilia—located on olfactory receptor neurons that touch
the olfactory epithelium lining the upper surface of nasal cavity
• Olfactory cells—chemoreceptors; gas molecules or chemicals
dissolved in mucus covering the nasal epithelium stimulate
olfactory cells
• Olfactory epithelium—located in most superior portion
of nasal cavity
• Olfactory receptors—extremely sensitive and easily fatigued

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 Sense of Smell
 Olfactory pathway—when level of odor-
producing chemicals reaches a threshold
level, the following occurs (Figure 15-5):
 Receptor potential, and then action potential, is
generated and passed to the olfactory nerves in
the olfactory bulb
 The impulse then passes through the olfactory
tract and into the thalamic and olfactory centers of
brain for interpretation, integration, and memory
storage

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 Sense of Taste
 Taste buds—sense organs that respond to gustatory,
or taste, stimuli; associated with papillae
 Chemoreceptors that are stimulated by chemicals dissolved
in the saliva
 Gustatory cells—specialized cells in taste buds; gustatory hairs
extend from each gustatory cell into the taste pore
 Sense of taste depends on the creation of a receptor potential in
gustatory cells as a result of taste-producing chemicals in the saliva
 Taste buds are similar structurally; functionally, each taste bud
responds most effectively to one of four primary taste sensations:
sour, sweet, bitter, and salty (and perhaps metallic and umami)
(Figure 15-6)
 Adaptation and sensitivity thresholds are different for each of the
primary taste sensations

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 Sense of Taste
 Neuronal pathway for taste
 Taste sensation begins with a receptor potential in gustatory
cells of a taste bud; generation and propagation of an action
potential then transmits sensory input to the brain
 Nerve impulses from anterior two thirds of the tongue travel
over the facial nerve; those from posterior one third of the
tongue travel over the glossopharyngeal nerve; vagus nerve
plays a minor role in taste
 Nerve impulses are carried to the medulla oblongata,
relayed into the thalamus, and then into the gustatory area of
the cerebral cortex in the parietal lobe of the brain

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 Sense of Hearing and Balance:
The Ear
 External ear—two divisions
(Figures 15-7 and 15-8):
 Auricle, or pinna—visible portion of the ear
 External auditory meatus—tube leading from
auricle into the temporal bone and ending at the
tympanic membrane

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 Sense of Hearing and Balance:
The Ear
 Middle ear (Figure 15-8)
 Tiny, epithelium-lined cavity hollowed out of the temporal bone
 Contains three auditory ossicles
• Malleus (hammer)—attached to inner surface of tympanic
membrane
• Incus (anvil)—attached to malleus and stapes
• Stapes (stirrup)—attached to incus
 Openings into middle ear cavity
• Opening from external auditory meatus covered with tympanic
membrane
• Oval window—opening into inner ear; stapes fits here
• Round window—opening into inner ear; covered by a membrane
• Opening into the auditory (eustachian) tube
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 Sense of Hearing and Balance:
The Ear
 Inner ear (Figure 15-9, A)
 Structure of the inner ear
• Bony labyrinth—made up of the vestibule, the cochlea, and
semicircular canals
• Membranous labyrinth—made up of utricle and saccule inside the
vestibule, cochlear duct inside the cochlea, and the membranous
semicircular canals inside the bony ones
• Vestibule and semicircular canals are involved with balance
• Cochlea—involved with hearing
• Endolymph—clear, potassium-rich fluid filling the membranous
labyrinth
• Perilymph—similar to cerebrospinal fluid, surrounds the membranous
labyrinth, filling space between the membranous tunnel and its
contents and the bony walls that surround it

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 Sense of Hearing and Balance:
The Ear
 Inner ear (cont.)
 Cochlea and cochlear duct (Figure 15-9, B)
• Cochlea—bony labyrinth
• Modiolus—cone-shaped core of the bone that houses the spiral
ganglion, which consists of cell bodies of the first sensory neurons
in the auditory relay
• Cochlear duct
 Lies inside the cochlea; only part of the internal ear concerned with
hearing; contains endolymph
 Shaped like a triangular tube
 Divides cochlea into the scala vestibuli, the upper section, and the scala
tympani, the lower section; both sections filled with perilymph
 Vestibular membrane—roof of cochlear duct
 Basilar membrane—floor of cochlear duct
 Organ of Corti—rests on basilar membrane; consists of supporting cells
and hair cells
 Axons of the neurons that begin around the organ of Corti, extend in the
cochlear nerve to the brain to produce the sensation of hearing

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 Sense of Hearing and Balance:
The Ear
 Inner ear (cont.)
 Sense of hearing
• Sound is created by vibrations
• Ability to hear sound waves depends on volume, pitch, and other
acoustic properties
• Sound waves must be of sufficient amplitude to move the tympanic
membrane and have a frequency capable of stimulating the hair cells
in the organ of Corti
• Basilar membrane is not the same width and thickness throughout its
length; high-frequency sound waves vibrate the narrow portion near
the oval window, whereas low frequencies vibrate the wider, thicker
portion near the apex of the cochlea; this fact allows different hair cells
to be stimulated and different pitches of sound to be perceived
• Perception of loudness is determined by the amplitude of the
movement of basilar membrane; the greater the movement, the louder
the perceived sound
• Hearing—results from stimulation of auditory area of cerebral cortex
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 Sense of Hearing and Balance:
The Ear
 Sense of hearing (cont.)
• Pathway of sound waves (Figure 15-10)
 Enter external auditory canal
 Strike tympanic membrane, causing vibrations
 Tympanic vibrations move malleus, which in turn moves incus and
then stapes
 Stapes moves against oval window, which begins fluid conduction
of sound waves
 The perilymph in the scala vestibuli of cochlea begins “ripple” that
is transmitted through vestibular membrane to endolymph inside
duct, to basilar membrane, then to organ of Corti
 From basilar membrane, ripple is transmitted through perilymph in
scala tympani and then expends itself against round window

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Sense of Hearing and Balance:
The Ear
 Sense of hearing (cont.)
• Neuronal pathway of hearing
 A movement of the hair cells against tectorial membrane
stimulates dendrites that terminate around base of hair
cells and initiates impulse conduction by the cochlear
nerve to the brainstem
 Impulses pass through “relay stations” in the nuclei in
medulla, pons, midbrain, and thalamus before reaching
auditory area of temporal lobe

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 Sense of Hearing and Balance:
The Ear
 Vestibule and semicircular canals (Figure 15-9, A)
• Vestibule—the central section of the bony labyrinth; the utricle
and saccule are the membranous structures within the
vestibule
• Semicircular canals—three, each at right angles to the others,
are found in each temporal bone; within the bony semicircular
canals are the membranous semicircular canals, each
containing endolymph and connecting with the utricle; near
this junction, each canal enlarges into an ampulla

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 Sense of Hearing and Balance:
The Ear
 Vestibule and semicircular canals (cont.)
• Sense of balance
 Staticequilibrium—ability to sense the position of the head relative to
gravity or to sense acceleration or deceleration (Figure 15-11)
– Movements of the macula, located in both the utricle and saccule almost
at right angles to each other, provide information related to head position
or acceleration
– Otoliths are located within matrix of macula
– Changing head position produces a change of pressure on the otolith-
weighted matrix, which stimulates hair cells that, in turn, stimulate
receptors of vestibular nerve
– Vestibular nerve fibers conduct impulses to the brain and produce a
sensation of the position of the head and also a sensation of a change in
the pull of gravity
– Righting reflexes—muscular responses to restore the body and its parts
to their normal position when they have been displaced; caused by stimuli
of macula and impulses from proprioceptors and from eyes

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 Sense of Hearing and Balance:
The Ear
• Sense of balance (cont.)
 Dynamic equilibrium—needed to maintain balance when head or
body is rotated or suddenly moved; able to detect changes both in
direction and rate at which movement occurs (Figure 15-12)
– Depends on functioning of cristae ampullaris, which are located in
ampulla of each semicircular canal
– Cupula—gelatinous cap in which hair cells of each crista are
embedded; does not respond to gravity; moves with flow of
endolymph in semicircular canals
– Semicircular canals are placed at almost right angles to each other to
detect movement in all directions
– When the cupula moves, hair cells are bent, producing a receptor
potential followed by an action potential; action potential passes
through vestibular portion of eighth cranial nerve to medulla
oblongata, where it is sent to other areas of brain and spinal cord for
interpretation, integration, and response

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 Vision: The Eye
 Structure of the eye (Figures 15-13 and 15-14)
 Coats of the eyeball—three layers of tissues compose the eyeball:
• Sclera—outer coat
 Tough, white, fibrous tissue
 Cornea—transparent anterior portion that lies over iris; no blood vessels found in
cornea or in lens
 Canal of Schlemm—ring-shaped venous sinus found deep within anterior portion of
the sclera at its junction with the cornea
• Choroid—middle coat
 Contains many blood vessels and a large amount of pigment
 Anterior portion has three different structures (Figure 15-14):
– Ciliary body—thickening of choroid, fits between anterior margin of retina and
posterior margin of iris; ciliary muscle lies in anterior part of ciliary body; ciliary
processes—fold in ciliary body
– Suspensory ligament—attached to ciliary processes and blends with elastic
capsule of the lens, to hold it in place
– Iris—colored part of eye; consists of circular and radial smooth muscle fibers
that form a doughnut-shaped structure; attaches to ciliary body

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 Vision: The Eye
 Coats of the eyeball (cont.)
• Retina—incomplete innermost coat of eyeball
 Three layers of neurons make up the sensory retina (Figure 15-16):
– Photoreceptor neurons—visual receptors, highly specialized for
stimulation by light rays
– Rods—absent from fovea and macula; increased in density toward
periphery of retina
– Cones—less numerous than rods; most densely concentrated in fovea
centralis in macula lutea
– Bipolar neurons
– Ganglionic neurons—all axons of these neurons extend back to the
optic disc; part of sclera, which contains perforations through which the
fibers emerge from the eyeball as the optic nerve

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 Vision: The Eye
 Cavities and humors
• Cavities—eyeball has a large interior space divided into
two cavities:
 Anterior cavity—lies in front of lens; has two subdivisions
– Anterior chamber—space anterior to iris and posterior to cornea
– Posterior chamber—small space posterior to iris and anterior to lens
 Posterior cavity—larger than anterior cavity; occupies all the
space posterior to lens, suspensory ligament, and ciliary body

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 Vision: The Eye
 Cavities and humors (cont.)
• Humors
 Aqueous humor—fills both chambers of anterior cavity;
clear, watery fluid that often leaks out when eye is injured;
formed from blood in capillaries located in ciliary body
(Figure 15-17)
 Vitreous humor—fills posterior cavity; semisolid material;
helps to maintain sufficient intraocular pressure, with
aqueous humor, to give the eyeball its shape

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 Vision: The Eye
 Muscles—two types of eye muscles:
• Extrinsic eye muscles (Figure 15-18)—skeletal muscles that
attach to the outside of the eyeball and to the bones of the orbit;
named according to their position on eyeball; the muscles are
superior, inferior, medial, and lateral rectus muscles and superior
and inferior oblique muscles
• Intrinsic eye muscles—smooth muscles located within the eye:
iris—regulates size of pupil; ciliary muscle—controls shape of lens

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 Vision: The Eye
 Accessory structures (Figure 15-19)
• Eyebrows and eyelashes—give some protection against foreign
objects entering eye; cosmetic purposes
• Eyelids—consist of voluntary muscle and skin with a tarsal plate; lined
with conjunctiva, a mucous membrane; palpebral fissure—opening
between the eyelids; canthus—where upper and lower eyelids join
• Lacrimal apparatus—structures that secrete tears and drain them
from surface of eyeball (Figure 15-21)
 Lacrimal glands—size and shape of a small almond; located at upper,
outer margin of each orbit; approximately a dozen small ducts lead from
each gland; drain tears onto conjunctiva
 Lacrimal canals—small channels that empty into lacrimal sacs
 Lacrimal sacs—located in a groove in lacrimal bone
 Nasolacrimal ducts—small tubes that extend from lacrimal sac into
inferior meatus of nose

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 Vision: The Eye
 The process of seeing
 Formation of retinal image
• Refraction of light rays—deflection, or bending, of light rays produced
by light rays passing obliquely from one transparent medium into
another of different optical density; cornea, aqueous humor, lens, and
vitreous humor are the refracting media of the eye
• Accommodation of the lens—increase in curvature of lens to achieve
the greater refraction needed for near vision (Figure 15-22)
• Constriction of the pupil—muscles of iris are important to formation of a
clear retinal image; pupil constriction prevents divergent rays from
object from entering eye through periphery of the cornea and lens; near
reflex—constriction of pupil that occurs with accommodation of lens in
near vision; photopupil reflex—pupil constricts in bright light
• Convergence of the eyes—movement of the two eyeballs inward so that
their visual axes come together at the object viewed; the closer the
object, the greater the degree of convergence necessary to maintain
single vision; for convergence to occur, a functional balance between
antagonistic extrinsic muscles must exist

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 Vision: The Eye
 The process of seeing (cont.)
 Role of photopigments—light-sensitive pigmented
compounds undergo structural changes that result in
generation of nerve impulses, which are interpreted by
the brain as sight
• Rods—photopigment in rods is rhodopsin; highly light-sensitive;
breaks down into opsin and retinal; separation of opsin and
retinal in the presence of light causes an action potential in rod
cells; energy is needed to reform rhodopsin (Figure 15-24)
• Cones—three types of cones are present in retina, with each
having a different photopigment; cone pigments are less light-
sensitive than rhodopsin and need brighter light to break down

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 Vision: The Eye
 The process of seeing (cont.)
 Neuronal pathway of vision (Figure 15-25)
• Fibers that conduct impulses from rods and cones reach the
visual cortex in occipital lobes via optic nerves, optic chiasma,
optic tracts, and optic radiations
• Optic nerve contains fibers from only one retina, but optic
chiasma contains fibers from the nasal portion of both retinas;
these anatomical facts explain peculiar visual abnormalities
that sometimes occur

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 Cycle of Life: Sense Organs
 Sensory information is acquired through
depolarization of sensory nerve endings
 Age, disease, structural defects, or lack of
maturation affect ability to identify and respond

 Structure and function response capabilities

are related to developmental factors
associated with age

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 Cycle of Life: Sense Organs
 Senses become more acute with maturation
 Late adulthood—loss of sensory capability
 Structural change in receptor cells or other sense
organ structures

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