Question 3:

Draw the structure of nervous system and explain the mechanism of neural transmission.
Answer
Nervous System
The nervous system can be divided into two major regions: the central and peripheral nervous
systems. The central nervous system (CNS) is the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral
nervous system (PNS) is everything else (Figure 1). The brain is contained within the cranial
cavity of the skull, and the spinal cord is contained within the vertebral cavity of the vertebral
column. It is a bit of an oversimplification to say that the CNS is what is inside these two
cavities and the peripheral nervous system is outside of them, but that is one way to start to
think about it. In actuality, there are some elements of the peripheral nervous system that are
within the cranial or vertebral cavities. The peripheral nervous system is so named because it
is on the periphery—meaning beyond the brain and spinal cord. Depending on different
aspects of the nervous system, the dividing line between central and peripheral is not
necessarily universal.

The nervous system is a network of neurons whose main feature is to generate, modulate and
transmit information between all the different parts of the human body. This property enables
many important functions of the nervous system, such as regulation of vital body functions
(heartbeat, breathing, digestion), sensation and body movements. Ultimately, the nervous
Question 5:
Discuss sensory system including characteristics of sensory coding, somatic sensation, vision,
hearing, vestibular system, chemical senses, association cortex and perceptual processing.
Answer:
Sensory system
A sensory system is a part of the nervous system responsible for processing sensory
information. A sensory system consists of sensory receptors, neural pathways, and parts of
the brain involved in sensory perception.
Commonly recognized sensory systems are those for vision, hearing, somatic sensation
(touch), taste and olfaction (smell). Receptive fields have been identified for the visual
system, auditory system and somatosensory system, so far.
Sensory Coding
Sensory coding is one of the several information processing occurrences in the nervous
system. This process involves four different but highly related events, which include
reception, transduction, coding, and awareness.
Mechanism of Action
The first phenomenon to take place when a stimulus reaches a receptor is called reception.
During reception, the receptors absorb the physical energy of the stimulus, such as light.
After reception a process called transduction occurs, whereby the physical energy is
transformed or transduced into electrochemical energy. This event is aided by the firing patter
of the neurons involved in transforming the physical energy. As a general rule, every receptor
has been designed to perform transduction of only a single type of energy. For example,
visual receptors can only transduce light energy, not sound or any other kind of energy. The
intensity of the stimuli affects the activation potential of a receptor.
Coding is a phenomenon that happens after transduction. It is a process wherein there is a
one-to-one correspondence that occurs between the attributes of the stimulus and the
attributes of the neuronal activity. Suppose neuron A has five frequencies of impulses of light
energy in electrochemical form. In terms of coding, the given frequencies of impulses in
neuron A might mean differently when the impulses reach neuron B, and any other neuron
for that matter. According to Muller, this is an aspect of sensory coding that is called the law
of specific nerve energies.
Awareness is the fourth event when there is a probable perception of the sensory stimulus
that has been encoded. This possible perception is in the conscious level of mind. The
diagram below shows the four phenomena of sensory coding:

SENSORY INFORMATION
SENT TO THE OLFACTORY
SCENT MOLECULES OF A REACH THE OLFACTORY
CHEMICAL REACTION BULB IN THE BRAIN VIA THE
FLOWER (STIMULUS) RECEPTORS (RECEPTION)
OLFACTORY NERVE
(CODING)

RECOGNITION &
PERCEPTION OF SMELL / PROCESSED INFORMATION DEPOLARIZATION OF THE
SCENT (AWARENESS) SENT TO DIFFERENT PARTS RECEPTORS' RESTING NEURAL FIRING
OF PREFRONTAL CORTEX POTENTIALS (TRANSDUCTION)
Modalities of Sensation
Our senses can be broadly grouped into exteroception, for the detection of stimuli that occur
outside of our body, and interoception, for stimuli occurring inside of our bodies. However,
what constitutes a sense is a matter of great debate, leading to difficulties in precisely
defining what it is. Traditionally, human beings are considered to have five main senses:
sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.
The peripheral nervous system (PNS) consists of sensory receptors that extend from the
central nervous system (CNS) to communicate with other parts of the body. These receptors
respond to changes and stimuli in the environment. Sense organs (made up of sensory
receptors and other cells) operate the senses of vision, hearing, equilibrium, smell, and taste.
Sight or vision (ophthalmoception) is the ability of the eye(s) to focus and detect images of
visible light on photoreceptors in the retina that generate electrical nerve impulses for varying
colors, hues, and brightness. There are two types of photoreceptors: rods and cones. Rods are
very sensitive to light, but do not distinguish colors. Cones distinguish colors, but are less
sensitive to dim light. The inability to see is called blindness.
Hearing or audition (audioception) is the sense of sound perception. Mechanoreceptors in
the inner ear turn vibration motion into electrical nerve pulses.
Taste (gustaoception) refers to the ability to detect substances such as food, certain minerals,
poisons, etc. Humans receive tastes through sensory organs called taste buds, or gustatory
calyculi, concentrated on the upper surface of the tongue. Five basic tastes exist: sweet, bitter,
sour, salty, and umami.
The olfactory system is the sensory system used for the sense of smell (olfaction). This sense
is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity.  In humans, olfaction occurs
when odorant molecules bind to specific sites on the olfactory receptors in the nasal cavity.
Touch or somatosensation (tactioception, tactition, or mechanoreception), is a perception
resulting from the activation of neural receptors in the skin, including hair follicles, tongue,
throat, and mucosa. A variety of pressure receptors respond to variations in pressure (firm,
brushing, sustained, etc.).
Vestibular System
The vestibular system is a sensory system that is responsible for providing our brain with
information about motion, head position, and spatial orientation; it also is involved with
motor functions that allow us to keep our balance, stabilize our head and body during
movement, and maintain posture. Thus, the vestibular system is essential for normal
movement and equilibrium.
Vestibular sensations begin in the inner ear in the vestibular labyrinth, a series of
interconnected chambers that are continuous with the cochlea. The most recognizable
components of the vestibular labyrinth are the semicircular canals. These consist of three
tubes, positioned approximately at right angles to one another, that are each situated in a
plane in which the head can rotate. This design allows each of the canals to detect one of the
following head movements: nodding up and down, shaking side to side, or tilting left and
right. These movements of the head around an axis are referred to as rotational acceleration,
and can be contrasted with linear acceleration, which involves movement forward or
backward.
he semicircular canals are filled with a fluid called endolymph, which is similar in
composition to the intracellular fluid found within neurons. When the head is rotated, it
causes the movement of endolymph through the canal that corresponds to the plane of the
movement. The endolymph in that semicircular canal flows into an expansion of the canal
called the ampulla. Within the ampulla is a sensory organ called the crista ampullaris that
contains hair cells, the sensory receptors of the vestibular system.

Chemical senses
Chemical senses (chemical sensors) are sensory organs and neural systems dedicated to the
molecular detection and neural processing of environmental or biological signals. These
includes sense of smell and taste
Characteristics
Cells are “irritable”: they react when exposed to chemicals. Chemical sensitivity is a property
of the simplest forms of life that are endowed with chemical sensors and is also manifest in
the most evolved organisms. To detect chemical signals, evolution has provided animals with
specific receptor proteins distributed in the membrane of specialized sensory cells. These
receptor cells are distributed in distinct chemosensory organs and systems, namely the main
and accessory olfactory systems (i.e., the two channels of smell), the taste system and the
chemoreceptive component of the trigeminal nerve.
 Association Cortex and Perceptual Processing
The cortical association areas are brain areas that lie outside the primary cortical sensory or
motor areas but are connected to them. The association areas are not considered part of the
sensory pathways but rather play a role in the progressively more complex analysis of
incoming information. They also serve integrative functions and are implicated in many
forms of behavior.
The more central regions of association cortex receive information only after it has
undergone initial processing by the association region closest to the primary receiving area.
Some of the neurons in these central regions receive input concerning two or even three of
the different types of sensory stimuli. These regions of association cortex are assumed to
serve more complex functions. Thus, a neuron receiving input from both the visual cortex and
the “neck” region of the somatosensory cortex might be concerned with integrating visual
information with sensory information about head position so that, for example, a tree is
understood to be vertical even though the viewer’s head is tipped sideways.
Fibres from neurons of the posterior parietal lobe go to association areas in the frontal lobes
that are part of the limbic system. Through these connections sensory information can be
invested with emotional and motivational significance. Further perceptual processing
involves not only arousal, attention, learning, memory, language, and emotions but also
comparing the information presented via one type of sensation with that of another. For
example, we may hear a growling dog, but our perception of the event varies markedly,
depending upon whether our visual system detects that the sound source is an angry animal or
a loudspeaker.