Physiology of sensory systems.

In this lecture, we will talk about the organization of sensory systems; we will describe the mechanisms of stimulus detection, coding of stimulus modality, intensity and duration.  We will describe the basic classification and characteristics of sensory receptors, adaptation and receptive field.  For particular sensory systems, we will explain the mechanism of transduction of stimuli and describe the corresponding sensory organs and cortical areas.

Basic terms:

Sensation, perception; receptors - mechanoreceptors, photoreceptors, chemoreceptors, thermoreceptors; receptor adaptation; afferent pathways, central processing, somatotopic organisation; stimulus, transduction, transmission; receptor (= generator) potential; sensory homunculus; pain, referred pain, pain modulation; olfactory nerve cells, taste cells, taste modalities, utriculus, sacculus, semicircular canals, hair cells, cochlea, Corti's organ, rods, cones, rhodopsin, retinal, refractive power, cornea, lens, accommodation, myopia, hypermetropia, presbyopia, miosis, mydriasis, direct and consensual pupillary light reflex, ventral and dorsal pathway of visual information processing.