Chapter 4 The Sensory System o Proprioceptor receptors for body awareness of
position, posture and movement.
External Sensation
- Is the process of knowing material, concrete stimuli through
the external senses namely: vision, audition, olfaction,
gustation, and cutaneous sensation.
The Four Elements of External Sensation
1. Stimulus
- refers to any aspect of the world that influences our
behavior or conscious experience
- the physical element of external sensation.
- Threshold Stimulus the minimum amount of stimulus that
is capable of producing a sensation.
2. Receptor
- refers to any structure in our body that is excitable to
stimuli
- is a peripheral termination of a sensory or afferent fibers
- 3 Types of Receptors:
o Exteroceptor receptors that are found on the
external surface of the body that receive external
stimuli.
Examples:
Vision Rods and Cones
Audition Cochlear cells
Olfaction Olfactory cells
Gustation Taste Buds
Cutaneous Sensation a variety of
somatosensory receptors
Examples:
Muscle Spindle provide information
about changes in muscle length
Golgi Tendon Organ provide
information about changes in muscle
tension
o Interoceptor/Visceroceptor - receptors that detects
stimulus within the body. Examples of stimuli that
would be detected by interoceptors include blood
pressure and blood oxygen level.
3. Transmissor
- Refers to the bundle of nerve fibers (called fiber tracts) that
convey sensory messages or impulses from one neuron to
the next and finally to the brain.
4. Brain Center
o Primary Sensory Area responsible for basic
sensory information
o Secondary and Association Areas together with
the Primary Sensory Area, provides meaningful
perception of stimulus
Visual Sense
- Deemed as the most valued of all external senses.
- The Four Elements/Conditions of the Visual Sense:
o Visual Stimulus LIGHT WAVES
Red longest wavelength
Violet shortest wavelength
o Visual Receptor RODS & CONES
 Fovea point of clearest vision in the retina
CONES
Conical Shape
Concentrated at the Center
Daytime Vision
Sensitive to Color
RODS
Tubular in shape
Concentrated at the Periphery
Night time Vision
Not Sensitive to Color.
o Visual Transmissor OPTIC NERVE
Blind Spot point in the retina devoid of
rods and cones because it is the point of
exit by the optic nerve
o Brain Center OCCIPITAL LOBE OF THE BRAIN
Primary Visual Area responsible for basic
visual information
Secondary and Association Areas
together with the Primary Visual Area,
provides meaningful perception of stimulus
Stimulus
- Stimuli Chemical Substances
- State Gas and Liquid form
Receptor
- Olfaction Olfactory cells within the nose
- Gustation Taste Buds spread on the tongue
Transmissor
- Olfaction Olfactory Nerve
- Gustation
o Facial Nerve Anterior 2/3 of tongue
o Glossopharyngeal Nerve Posterior 1/3 of tongue
Brain Center
- Primary olfactory area temporal lobe (odor)
- Primary gustatory area lower portion of frontal lobe
(flavor)
Cutaneous Sensation

Auditory Sense -

Olfactory and Gustatory Senses

- Nose Smell
- Tongue Taste
- Similar stimuli but Different states