LECTURE NO (-) CNS Physiology

Elnagi Yousif Hago

Lecturer Of Physiology

Sensory System

Dept.Of Physiology
 The sensory system:

 provide us with information about the internal

and the external environment:
 The sensory receptors:

 Special structure found at the peripheral ends of

afferent neurons
Classification of receptor

1. Telereceptor (distance receptor)

i.e rods and cones for light

Hair cell of cochlea

2. Exteroceptor:
 Concern with information about immediate
external environment

i.e touch and tempreture

3. Interoceptor:
 Concern with information about internal environment

 i.e chemoreceptor, osmoreceptor

4. Proprioceptor:
 Concern with information about body position

 Found in muscle, tendon and joint

5. Nociceptors:
 Its pain receptor
Taste :
Smell :
visual receptors:
Hair cells of hearing
 Properties of receptors:
1. Specificity:
 Each types of receptor is most sensitive to specific from of
energy

 Example:

 For touch receptors, the stimulus is mechanical energy

 For temperature receptors, the stimulus is thermal energy

 For pain receptors, the stimulus is not specific (i.e. any form of
energy can causes pain if it causes tissue damage)
2. Excitability:
 Different types of receptors are excited in different ways.

 Example:

 Mechanical, release of chemical, change in temperature

 Receptor transforms these various stimuli into local

change (receptor potential)
 When reach threshold action potential generated
3. Adaptation:

 Some receptors stop generation of action potentials

when a stimulus of constant strength is applied for
long time
 Examples:

 Touch receptors are rapidly adapting

 Proprioceptors are slowly adapting

 Pain receptors do not adapt at all

Coding of sensory information

 All types of sensation reach the brain reach in

form of AP
 The brain can discriminate 3 features for each
sensation:
 Type of sensation (modality)

 Site of sensation (locality)

 Strength of sensation (intensity)

Modality

 Each modality of sensation has specific :-

adequate stimulus, receptor, afferent, sensory tract
and sensory area in the cerebral cortex to be
activated

-i.e. the sensory pathway for each modality is

different from the pathways of other modalities
2- localization (low of projection)

 To discriminate between different localities of various

stimuli
 The brain projects the coming impulses of each stimulus
to the site of the receptor
 If the stimulus is applied along the pathway, not directly
on the receptor , this known as the law of projection
( which explain the phenomenon of phantom limb)
 3- Intensity

 The brain discriminates between different

intensities , of stimulation ( weak ,moderate,
strong) by variation in:-
the number of receptors stimulated

Frequencies of action potentials generated

The sensory pathways (ascending

tracts)
 Tracts: it is collection of nerve fibers inside the CNS have
the same origin, termination and functions divided into
i. Ascending tracts
ii. Descending tracts

 Ascending tracts:

These are tracts that carry impulses to the sensory areas of the
cerebral cortex include:
1. Spinothalamic tracts
2. Dorsal column
 Spinothalamic tracts

Carry.

a. pain

b. tickle and itch

c. Sexual sensation
 Dorsal column
a. Touch sensation

b. Vibration

c. Position sensation

d. pressure
 Each of the various sensory pathways consists of
3 order neurons

 Spinothalamic tracts

 First order neurons: these are A-delta and C

afferent nerve fibers. They enter the spinal cord
via the dorsal roots, then terminate at the main
sensory nucleus of the dorsal horn gray matter
 Second order neurons: Start in the dorsal horn,
cross to the opposite side, ascend in the anterior
column of spinal cord, and terminate at the
thalamus

 Third order neurons: these start in the thalamus

and terminate at the cortical sensory areas in the
postcentral gyrus
 Dorsal column

 First order neurons:

 cell bodies located in the dorsal root ganglia
 Axon pass from the receptors to the spinal cord and
ascend in the dorsal column (white matter) of the
spinal cord until they reach the medulla and
terminate at the gracile and cuneate nuclei
 Second order neurons: these start at the gracile
and cuneate nuclei in the medulla, cross in the
sensory decussation to the opposite side, then
terminate at the thalamus.

 Third order neurons: these start at the thalamic

and terminate at the cortical sensory areas in the
postcentral gyrus.
Figure 10.15
 Sensory cortex
 The cerebral cortex is divided into 2 large hemispheres,
each of which contains frontal, parietal, temporal and
occipital lobes
 The central fissure separate the frontal and parietal lobes

 The lateral fissure separates both the frontal and parietal

from temporal lobe
 The surface of each lobe is formed of elevations called
gyri separated by depressions called sulci
 Sensory cortex:
 Receives the ascending impulses through the sensory
tracts, and then gives perception about type, site and
strength of stimulation
 The sensory cortex divided into

i. Somatic sensory area I (area SI)

ii. Somatic sensory area II (area SII)

 Somatic sensory area I
 Located at the postcentral gyrus
 Is the final destination of the sensory pathways
projecting from the thalamus.

 Characters of area SI

1. Receive sensation mainly from the opposite side

of the body
2. The body is topographically presented in an inverted
manner
3. The area of representation of each part is proportionate to
the number of receptors in this part and not to its size e.g.
the lips and fingers occupy a much greater area than that
occupied by the trunk

4. The area of representation are changeable e.g. if a finger is

amputated, the areas specialized for the neighboring fingers
expand and occupy that of the lost finger
Somatic sensory area II

 It receive signals from

a) Somatic sensory area I and other sensory areas

(e.g. the visual and auditory area)

b) The thalamic nuclei

c) The brain stem

 Functions of area SII:

 It potentiate the functions of area SI
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