Vision

1. visual system involves about ____percent of humans’ cerebral cortex, more than any other sense does
2. Knowledge of how light energy is converted into electrical signals comes primarily from studies of
3. ____ and _______
4. Higher level visual processing has mostly been studied in _____
5. Light passes through the ____ and enters the eye through the ____
6. ____ regulates how much light enters by changing the size of the pupil.
7. ____ then bends the light so that it focuses on the inner surface of your eyeball, on a sheet of cells called ____
8. The rigid ____ does the initial focusing, but the lens can thicken or flatten to bring near or far objects into better
focus on the ____
9. After processing by specialized cells in several layers of the retina, signals travel via the ____ to other parts of
your brain and undergo further integration and interpretation
10. The retina is home to three types of neurons _____, ____, ____ which are organized into several layers
11. ____, ___, ____ cells communicate extensively with each other before sending information along to the brain.
12. Light-sensitive photoreceptors ____ and ____ are located in the most peripheral layer of the retina
13. Two types of Light-sensitive photoreceptors _____, ____
14. After entering through the cornea and lens, light travels through the ____ and _____ before it reaches the
photoreceptors
15. ____ and ____ do not respond directly to light, but they process and relay information from the photoreceptors
16. Axons of ganglion cells exit the retina together, forming the ____
17. There are approximately ____ million photoreceptors in each human eye, and they turn light into electrical
signals
18. The process of converting one form of energy into another occurs in most sensory systems and is known as ____
19. Rods make up about ____ percent of photoreceptors in humans, are extremely sensitive, allowing you to see in
dim light
20. ____ pick up fine detail and color, allowing you to engage in activities that require a great deal of visual acuity
21. The human eye contains three types of cones, each sensitive to a different range of colors ___, ___, ____
22. vision is sharper in ____ than in the periphery due to many more cones than other retinal areas.
23. In the very center of the retina is the____ , a small pitted area where cones are most densely packed
24. Small pitted area where cones are most densely packed in the center of the retina is _____
25. The _____ contains only red and green cones and can resolve very fine details
26. The area immediately around the fovea is_____ , is critical for reading and driving
_____ is critical for reading and driving
27. Death or degeneration of photoreceptors in the macula called______, is a leading cause of blindness in people
older than 55
28. The portion of visual space providing input to a single ganglion cell is called its _____
29. Neural activity in the axons of ganglion cells is transmitted via the____, which exit the back of each eye and
travel toward the back of the brain
30. On their way to the brain, signals travel along nerve fibers from both eyes which first converge at a crossover
junction called the ______.
31. Signals travel along ____ from both eyes ____and these fibers carrying information from the left side of the
retinas of both eyes continue together on the left side of the brain; information from the right side of both retinas
proceeds on the right side of the brain. Visual information is then relayed through the_____ , a region of the____,
and then to the primary _____at the rear of the brain
32. The primary_____ , a thin sheet of neural tissue no larger than a half-dollar, is located in the occipital lobe at the
back of your brain
33. The primary visual cortex, a thin sheet of neural tissue no larger than a half-dollar, is located in the _____ at the
back of your brain
34. Like the retina, ____ region consists of many layers with densely packed cells

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35. ____ and _____ region consists of many layers with densely packed cells
36. The _____ layer which receives messages from the thalamus, has receptive fields similar to those in the retina
and can preserve the retina’s visual map
37. Cells above and below the ____ layer have more complex receptive fields, and they register stimuli shaped like
bars or edges or with particular orientations
38. Studies in monkeys suggest that visual signals are fed into several parallel but interacting processing streams.
Two of these are the_____ , which heads up toward the parietal lobe, and the____, which heads down to the
temporal lobe.
39. ____ stream which heads up toward the parietal lobe
40. _____ stream which heads down to the temporal lobe
41. Two streams were believed to carry out separate processing of unconscious vision, which guides behavior and
conscious visual experiences
42. _____ stream called “What” stream
43. ________stream called “where stream
44. _____ or ____ stream would integrate information about the objects shape and color with memories and
experiences that let you recognize
45. _____ or ____ stream would combine various spatial relationships, motion, and timing to create an action plan,
but without a need for conscious thought
46. Seeing with two eyes, called_____ , allows you to perceive depth or three dimensions, because each eye sees an
object from a slightly different angle. This only works if the eyes’ visual fields overlap and if both eyes are equally
active and properly aligned
47. A person with crossed eyes, a condition called _____ misses out on much depth perception.
48. Information from the perspective of each eye is preserved all the way to the _____where it is processed further.
Two eyes also allow a much larger visual field to be mapped onto the____.
49. Each half of the ____ is responsible for eye processing information from the opposite side of the body
Hearing
1. Sound in the form of air pressure waves reaches the pinnae of your ears, where the waves are funneled into each
ear canal to reach the eardrum _______ membrane
2. The eardrum vibrates in response to changes in air pressure, sending vibrations to three tiny, sound-amplifying
bones in the middle ear: ____, ___, ___
3. which bone in the chain acts like a tiny piston, pushing on the oval window, a membrane that separates the air
filled middle ear from the fluid-filled, snail-shell-shaped cochlea of the inner ear.
4. _____ is the last bone in the chain of middle ear
5. snail shape part of the inner ear
6. The oval window converts the mechanical vibrations of the stapes into pressure waves in the fluid of the cochlea,
where they are transduced into electrical signals by specialized receptor cells called ____
7. An elastic membrane, called the____ , runs along the inside of the cochlea like a winding ramp, spiraling from the
outer coil, near the oval window, to the innermost coil
8. The _____ is “tuned” along its length to different frequencies (pitches)
9. When fluid inside the ____ ripples, the membrane moves, vibrating to higher pitched sounds (like the screech of
audio feedback) near the oval window and to lower-pitched sounds (like a bass drum) in the center.
10. Rows of small sensory hair cells are located on top of the vibrating ____
11. When the membrane moves up and down, microscopic hair-like stereocilia extending from the hair cells bend
against an overlying structure called the ____
12. When the membrane moves up and down, microscopic hair-like ____ extending from the hair cells bend against
an overlying structure called the tectorial membrane.
13. Hair cells bend and this bending opens small channels in the ____ that allow ions in the surrounding fluid to rush
in, converting the physical movement into an electrochemical signal
14. Hair cells stimulated then excite the_____ , which sends its electrical signals on to the brain stem

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15. Auditory nerve send electrical signals on to the _____ and the next stop for sound processing is the_____, the
brain’s relay station for incoming sensory information, which then sends the information into the auditory part of the
______
16. Primary auditory cortex in the _____ lobe where different auditory neurons respond to different frequencies
17. Some _____ neurons respond to sound qualities such as intensity, duration, or a change in frequency
18. Although sound is processed on both sides of the brain, the ____ side is typically responsible for understanding
and producing speech
19. Someone with damage to the ____ auditory cortex particularly a region called_____ from stroke, is able to hear
a person speak but no longer understands what is being said.

Taste and Smell

1. Senses of taste called _____
2. Sense of smell called ____
3. Which receptor cells regularly regenerate
4. _____ neurons are the only sensory neurons that are continually replaced throughout our lives
5. Tongue’s receptors, called_____ , transform information about tastes and send them to the brain to be processed
into your favorite flavors.
6. We have between ____ and ____ taste buds but start to lose them around age 50
7. Each taste bud consists of ____ to ____ sensory cells that are receptive to one of at least five basic taste qualities:
sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (Japanese for “savory”)
8. When taste receptor cells are stimulated, they send signals through three cranial nerves ___, ___, ___ to taste
regions in the brainstem
9. What are three cranial nerves
10. Facial, glossopharyngeal, vagus nerves are three ____ nerves
11. Signals go to cranial nerves and impulses are then routed through the ____ to the ____ in the ____ lobe, and
____where specific taste perceptions are identified
12. Odors enter the nose, bind to specialized _____ cells on small patch of mucus membrane high inside the nasal
cavity. Axons of these sensory neurons enter the two ____ (one for each nostril) after crossing through tiny holes in
the skull. From there, the information travels to the _____
13. ____ is the only sensory system that sends sensory information directly to the cerebral cortex without first
passing through the thalamus
14. Humans have around ____ different types of olfactory cells, but can identify about 20 times as many smells.
15. The tips of ____ cells are equipped with several hair-like cilia that are receptive to a number of different odor
molecules, and many cells respond to the same molecules
16. Specific smell stimulate unique combination of olfactory cells. This pattern of activity is then transmitted to the
_____ and on to the primary _____located on the anterior surface of the ____ lobe.
17. Recent research suggests that people can identify odors as quickly as ____ milliseconds after their first sniff
18. Size of the olfactory bulbs and the way neurons are organized can change over time called
____
19. There are also neurons in the inferior ____ lobe that respond selectively to specific taste and smell combinations

Touch and Pain

1. ___ system is responsible for all the touch sensations we feel
2. ____ receptors whose nerve endings are located in different layers of our skin, the body’s main sense organ for
touch
3. Signals from ____ receptors travel along ____ nerve fibers that connect to neurons in the spinal cord. From there,
the signals move upward to the ____ and on to the____, where they are translated into a touch perception.
4. Some touch information travels quickly along myelinated nerve fibers with thick axons called ___ , but other
information is transmitted more slowly along thin, unmyelinated axons ____

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5. myelinated nerve fibers with thick axons called ___
6. unmyelinated axons called ____
7. Somatosensory information from all parts of your body is spread onto the ____ in the form of a topographic map
8. Neurologists measure sensitivity using _____, the minimum distance between two points on the skin that a person
can identify as distinct stimuli rather than a single one
9. Minimum distance between two points on the skin that a person can identify as distinct stimuli rather than a single
one called _____
10. _____ is used to measure sensitivity
11. Pain occurs when special sensory fibers, called____, respond to stimuli that can cause tissue damage
12. ____ respond only to strong or high-threshold stimuli.
13. _____ receptors that are activated when skin irritation, bug bites, and allergies trigger the release of ____ inside
your body
14._____ enhance the sensitivity of receptors to tissue damage, making you feel pain more intensely.
15. _____ contribute to a condition called allodynia, in which even soft touch can produce pain, as on badly
sunburned skin
16. Prostaglandins contribute to a condition called____, in which even soft touch can produce pain, as on badly
sunburned skin
17. A long-lasting injury may lead to nervous system changes that enhance and prolong the perceived pain, even in
the absence of pain stimuli. The resulting state of hypersensitivity to pain, called____ , is caused by a
malfunctioning nervous system rather than by an injury