The Special Senses

Name the divisions of the ear, and describe the

features and give the function of each part
External ear:
Features:
Auricle (pinna: elastic cartilage)
External acoustic meatus (short curved tube extends from the auricle to the
ear drum)
Function
Pinna must funnel sound waves into the external acoustic meatus onto the
tympanic membrane, which vibrates to transmit sound to the middle ear

Middle ear (tympanic cavity):

Features
One side (laterally) lined by the tympanic membrane
Other side (medially) lined by two openings (oval and round window)
Three small bones span cavity: auditory ossicles (malleus, incus and stapes)
Function
Ossicles transmit the vibratory motion of the tympanic membrane to the oval
window, which in turn sets the fluids of the internal ear into motion

Internal ear (labyrinth):

Features
2 Major divisions
- Bony labyrinth: filled with perilymph
o Semicircular canals: semicircular duct communicates with uricle
anteriorly, each duct has an enlarged ampulla at one end housing
an equilibrium receptor: crista ampullaris
o Cochlea: spiral, bony conical chamber. Cochlear duct runs through
its centre (house receptor organs of hearing: organ of corti)
o Vestibule: 2 membranous labyrinth sacs (saccule and utricle)
- Membranous labyrinth: suspended in surrounding perilymph and filled
with endolymph
Function:
Perilymph in the bony labyrinth and endolymph in the membranous labyrinth
conduct the sound vibrations involved in hearing and respond to the mechanical
forces occurring during changes in body position and acceleration
Describe the structure of the eyeball and
accessory structures of the eye
Structure of the eyeball:
- Fibrous layer: sclera and cornea
- Vascular layer: Choroid, Ciliary body, suspensory ligament, iris, lens
- Retina: pigmented layer, neural layer
- Fluids: aqueous humour (anterior to lens), vitreous humour (posterior to

lens)
Accessory structures:
- Eyebrows: help shade eyes from sunlight and prevent perspiration
trickling down the forehead reaching the eye
- Eyelids (palpebrae): mobile anterior protection of the eye
- Conjunctiva: transparent mucous membrane over the anterior surface of
the eyeball
- Lacrimal Apparatus: consists of the lacrimal gland and the ducts that
drain lacrimal secretions into the nasal cavity
- Extrinsic Eye Muscles: originate from the walls of the orbit and insert
into the outer surface of the eyeball
o Superior, inferior, lateral, and medial rectus muscles all originate
from the common tendinous ring at the back of the orbit
o Superior oblique muscle originates in common with the rectus
muscles, runs along the medial wall of the orbit, and then makes a
right-angle turn and passes through a fibrocartilaginous loop called
the trochlea
o Inferior oblique muscle originates from the medial orbit surface and
runs laterally and obliquely to insert on the inferolateral eye
surface.
List the elements of the visual pathway

Optic radiation fibres project to primary visual cortex (occipital lobe)

State the location of the olfactory epithelium and

briefly describe its microscopic features and
neurological connections
Olfactory epithelium:
- Located in the roof of the nasal cavity, covers the superior nasal concha
on each side of the nasal septum (olfactory receptors: neurons
equipped with olfactory hairs)
- Yellow-tinged patch (about 5cm2) of pseudo stratified epithelium
Neurological connections
- Chemical stimuli in the form of ordants result in depolarization if sensory
olfactory cells of the olfactory epithelium. An olfactory cell through G-
protein coupled receptors is capable of responding to more than one odour
type. Odorants are trapped and also removed by secretions of olfactory
glands.
- Olfactory pathway: Axons of bipolar olfactory nerves synapse with tufted
and mitral cell dendrites in glomeruli of the olfactory bulb. Mitral cell axons
form the olfactory tract, which extends to the anterior commissure (where
fibres project back to the contralateral olfactory bulb) and the olfactory
trigone, ultimately projecting to the primary olfactory cortex, lateral
entorhinal cortex and amygdala.
Briefly describe the location and types of taste
buds, their microscopic features and their
neurological connections
Location:
- Mostly found in papillae projections of the tongue mucosa
o Located mainly on the tops of the mushroom-shaped fungiform
papillae
o In the epithelium of the side walls of the foliate papillae and the
large round vallate papillae (largest and least numerous)
- Also found on the soft palate, inner surface of the cheeks, pharynx, and
epiglottis of the larynx
- Each taste bud consists of 50-100 epithelial cells of two major types:
gustatory epithelial cells and basal epithelial cells

Neurological connections:
- Gustatory epithelial cells are the receptor cells for taste
o Coiling intimately around the gustatory epithelial cells are sensory
dendrites that represent the initial part of the gustatory pathway to
the brain
o Gustatory epithelial cells release serotonin (classical synapse) or
ATP for signalling
- Basal epithelial cells act as stem cells, dividing and differentiating into new
gustatory epithelial cells
For a chemical to be tasted it must dissolve in saliva, diffuse into a taste pore,
and contact the gustatory hairs.
- Binds to receptors in the gustatory epithelial cell membrane
- Induces a graded depolarizing potential that causes neurotransmitter
release
- Binding of the neurotransmitter to the associated sensory dendrites
triggers generator potentials that elicit action potentials in these fibres
- Facial nerve (VII) transmits impulses from taste receptors in the anterior
two-thirds of the tongue, glossopharyngeal nerve (IX) innervates the
posterior third and the pharynx