STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE

SYSTEMS

SPECIAL SENSES
 Objectives:
• List and describe the major forms of special senses.
• Identify the location, the structure, and function of the special
sense organs.
A. Gustation (taste)
B. Olfactory (smell)
C. Tactile (touch)
D. Visual (sight)
E. Auditory (hearing)
 THE SENSES
 General senses of touch (tactile)
 Temperature- thermoreceptors (heat)
 Pressure- mechanoreceptors (movement)
 Pain- Nociceptors
 Special senses
 Smell- chemoreceptors (chemicals)
 Taste- chemoreceptors
 Sight- photoreceptors (light)
 Hearing- mechanoreceptors
 Equilibrium- (balance) mechanoreceptors
 Taste and smell are involved with specific receptor
cells called chemoreceptors.

• They respond to
chemicals in an aqueous
solution
– food dissolved in saliva
– airborne chemicals
dissolved in mucous
membrane
 The Sense of Taste
 Taste buds house the
receptor organs
 There are about 4,000 of
these, located on the
tongue.
 Location of taste buds
 Most are on the tongue
 Soft palate
 Cheeks
 The Tongue and Taste
 The tongue is covered with
projections called lingual papillae
 Filiform papillae – spikes without taste
buds.
 They are the most abundant papillae on
the human tongue, but they are small
and play no gustatory role. They are,
however, important to appreciation of
the texture of food.
 Foliate papillae form parallel ridges on
the sides of the tongue about two-thirds
of the way back from the tip.
 Fungiform papillae – are shaped somewhat
like mushrooms.
Each has about three taste buds, located
mainly on the apex.
These papillae are widely distributed but
especially concentrated at the tip and
sides of the tongue
 Circumvallate papillae – are large papillae
arranged in a V at the rear of the tongue.
Each is surrounded by a deep circular trench.
There are only 7 to 12 of them, but they
contain about half of all our taste buds—
around 250 each, located on the wall of the
papilla facing the trench
http://neuromedia.neurobio.ucla.edu/campbell/oral_cavity/wp_images/96_fungiform.gif
 TASTE BUDS

Filiform
papilla

Fungiform
papilla

Connective tissue Tongue epithelium

Circumvallate Papilla
 TASTE BUDS
 Regardless of location and sensory specialization, all taste buds look alike.
 They are lemon-shaped groups of 40 to 60 cells of three kinds –
 taste cells,
 supporting cells, and
 basal cells.
 Taste cells are more or less banana-shaped and have a tuft of apical
microvilli called taste hairs that serve as receptor surfaces for taste
molecules.
 The hairs project into a pit called a taste pore on the epithelial surface of
the tongue.
 Taste cells are epithelial cells, not neurons, but they synapse with sensory
nerve fibers at their base.
 Structure of taste buds
 Gustatory cells are the receptors
 Have gustatory hairs (long microvilli)
 Hairs are stimulated by chemicals dissolved in saliva
 Structure of Taste Buds
 Impulses are carried to the
gustatory complex (parietal
lobe) by several cranial
nerves because taste buds
are found in different areas
 Facial nerve
 Glossopharyngeal nerve
 Vagus nerve
 Gustatory cells and nerves
 Are specialized receptors located on each taste bud
(50-125 per taste bud);
 Have special hair-like projections (sensitive to
various chemicals - acts as stimuli for various taste
sensations)
 Gustatory nerves - connected by the cranial nerves
to the medulla oblongata  relays the message to
the thalamus  to the gustatory center of the
brain where the stimulus is interpreted.
 Gustation and olfaction are closely associated to
produce the sensation of taste.
Facial nerve covers 2/3
anterior portion of tongue
Glossophyngeal nerve
covers posterior 1/3 of tongue
Vagus nerve- few taste buds
on epiglottis and pharynx
• These afferent fibers
synapse in
medullathalamus
gustatory cortex in
parietal lobes and
fibers to hypothalamus
in limbic system
 SENSE OF TASTE
 Taste buds are organs of taste
Humans have 10,000 of these located on papillae of tongue,
roof of mouth, cheek linings, walls of pharynx
 Taste receptors are chemoreceptors, called taste cells that are
located on taste buds
Taste cells have receptive microvilli (taste hair) that project through
a taste pore
Taste hair is the sensitive portion
 That detects chemicals dissolved in saliva
 Undergo rapid sensory adaptation
 The Physiology
 To be tasted, molecules must dissolve in the saliva and flood the taste
pore.
 On a dry tongue, sugar or salt has as little taste as a sprinkle of sand.
 Physiologists currently recognize five primary taste receptors:
 Sweet receptors
 Sugars
 Saccharine (sugary)
 Sour receptors
 Acids (eg. Citrus fruits)
 Bitter receptors
 Alkaloids (
 Salty receptors
 Metal ions
 Umami (Japanese slang for “delicious” or ”yummy”)
 Broths or cooked meats
 Taste Sensations - NOTE
1. Salty: produced by metal ions such as sodium and potassium. Since these
are vital electrolytes, there is obvious value in our ability to taste them
and in having an appetite for salt.
 Pregnancy can lower a woman’s electrolyte concentrations and create
a craving for salty food.

2. Bitter: associated with spoiled foods and with alkaloids such as nicotine,
caffeine, quinine, and morphine.

3. Sweet: produced by many organic compounds, especially sugars.

Sweetness is associated with carbohydrates and foods of high caloric
value
Dry tongue with a paper towel and
place a little sugar on surface.
What do you taste?
 Taste triggers reflex involved in digestion;
 causes an increase of salivation (amylase) and gastric
juice in stomach
acids cause strong salivary reflex
bad tasting food causes gagging or reflexive
vomiting
taste can change over time
80% of taste is actually smell
Mouth also contains:
Thermoreceptors
Mechanoreceptors
Nociceptors- sensitive nerve fibers that are aware
of painful stimuli
 In Summary...

When we eat, chemicals Now, adjacent neurons

Different areas on the in the food dissolve in fire, sending nerve
tongue are slightly saliva and come into impulses to the brain’s
more sensitive to contact with the taste parietal lobe, where the
different tastes cells (receptors) within messages are perceived
the taste buds. as taste.
 Diseases of the tongue
 Burning mouth syndrome
 The exact cause of burning mouth syndrome, which creates a burning
sensation on the tongue and other areas of the mouth, isn't known.
 It might be caused by nerve damage, allergies, nutritional deficiencies
or hormonal changes.
 Black hairy tongue
 People with the condition don't shed the dead tongue cells from the
top of the tongue, leading to buildup.
 After a while, the tongue looks like it has a coating of dark hair on top.
 This issue can develop after a person takes a course of antibiotics or as
a result of a diet made up of soft foods and don't scrub the surface of
the tongue.
 Diseases of the tongue
 Oral cancer: Some types of oral cancers develop on
the tongue. Symptoms of tongue cancer can
include pain in the tongue, a spot that forms on
the tongue and difficulty moving the tongue or
jaw.

 Glossitis: inflammation of the tongue. The

condition causes the tongue to swell in size,
change in color, and develop a different
appearance on the surface. Glossitis may cause the
small bumps on the surface of the tongue
(papillae) to disappear.
Olfaction (Smell)
 Olfaction
 Olfaction – the sense of smell
 Our sense of smell does not compare to with dogs, cats, or
fish
 Provided by paired olfactory organs
 Organs are located in the nasal cavity on either side of the
nasal septum
 Organs are made up of two layers:
 Olfactory epithelium
 Lamina propria
 Olfactory epithelium made up of:
a) Olfactory receptor cells
b) Supporting cells
c) Regenerative basal cells (stem cells)
 Lamina propria contains:
a) Areolar tissue
b) Numerous blood vessels
c) Nerves
d) Olfactory glands (Bowman’s glands)
secretions absorb water and form a thick
pigmented mucus
 For normal inhalation, 2% of inhaled air gets to the olfactory
organs
 Sniffing increases flow of air across the olfactory epithelium
and intensifies the stimulation of the olfactory receptors
 Olfactory receptors are highly modified neurons
 The larger the olfactory receptor surface, the better the sense
of smell
 Contains up to 20 cilia, which are;
1. exposed to inhaled compounds
2. site of reception (smell)
3. contain odorant-binding proteins
 Smell (Olfaction)
 The receptor cells for smell (olfaction) form a patch of epithelium,
the olfactory mucosa, in the roof of the nasal cavity .

 This location places the olfactory cells close to the brain, but it is
poorly ventilated; forcible sniffing is often needed to identify an
odor or locate its source. Nevertheless, the sense of smell is
highly sensitive.

 Most people can distinguish 2,000 to 4,000 odors, and some can
distinguish up to 10,000.
 On average, women are more sensitive to odors than men are, and
they
are measurably more sensitive to some odors near the time
• Specific chemicals cause specific patterns of
neurons to fire
• Smell not as good as animals
• Humans can distinguish 10,000 or so
chemicals
• Olfactory fatigue or adaptation (nose-
blindness)
• Old people lose sense of smell
 Olfactory Receptors
 Receptors are G proteins
 Receptor binds to odorant and activates adenylate
cyclase
 Converts ATP to cyclic-AMP (cAMP)
 cAMP opens sodium channels in membrane which
results in a localized depolarization
 Action potential is triggered in the axon and smell
information goes to the central nervous system (CNS)
Olfactory
epithelium
Olfactory Mitral cell (output cell)
tract
Glomeruli
Olfactory bulb
Olfactory tract Cribriform plate of ethmoid bone
Olfactory bulb
Filaments of olfactory nerve
Lamina propria connective tissue
Olfactory Axon
gland Basal cell
Nasal
conchae Olfactory receptor cell
Olfactory Supporting cell
epithelium
Dendrite
Olfactory cilia
Route of Mucus
inhaled air Route of inhaled air
containing odor molecules
 The olfactory bulb transmits these impulses
The axons from these millions
to the temporal lobes of the brain where
of receptors carry nerve
they are experienced as smell
impulses to the olfactory bulb

As we breathe, molecules
reach the receptor cells high in
each nasal cavity
Cortical Regions Associated with Olfactory Information
 Aging and Olfactory Sensitivity
 New olfactory receptor cells are produced by division of
basal cells in the epithelium

 Total number of receptors declines with age

 Receptors become less sensitive
 Elderly have hard time detecting smells of low
concentrations
 loss of sense of smell
• Lose sense of smell  lose taste
• Cranial nerve trauma
• May be genetic or a cold (mucus), allergy,
zinc deficiency
• Uncinate- olfactory hallucinations; may be
psychological eg. rotting meat smell
• Olfactory auras- prior to epileptic attack
 SIGHT

 HEARING &BALANCING

 TOUCH