All flashcards
Flashcard 1: What is the optic chiasm?
Answer: Partial crossing of optic nerve fibers. Where nasal fibers cross to opposite hemisphere.
Flashcard 2: Which thalamic nucleus relays visual information from the optic tract to primary visual cortex?
Answer: Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Thalamic relay station for visual processing.
Flashcard 3: Which thalamic nucleus relays auditory information to primary auditory cortex?
Answer: Medial geniculate nucleus (MGN). Processes tonotopic information from inferior colliculus.
Flashcard 4: Which thalamic nucleus relays auditory information to the primary auditory cortex?
Answer: Medial geniculate nucleus (MGN). Thalamic relay station for auditory processing.
Flashcard 5: What is the primary sensory cortex for vision (name and lobe)?
Answer: Primary visual cortex (V1) in occipital lobe. First cortical area processing visual information.
Flashcard 6: What is the primary sensory cortex for audition (name and lobe)?
Answer: Primary auditory cortex in temporal lobe. First cortical area processing sound information.
Flashcard 7: What is the primary sensory cortex for somatosensation (name and lobe)?
Answer: Primary somatosensory cortex in parietal lobe. Processes touch, pressure, temperature, and pain.
Flashcard 8: What term describes a sensory receptor's baseline level of activity without stimulation?
Answer: Spontaneous firing (baseline activity). Receptors fire at low rates even without stimulation.
Flashcard 9: Which sensory pathway is the major exception to the rule that sensory input relays through the thalamus?
Answer: Olfaction (smell). Bypasses thalamus, projects directly to cortex.
Flashcard 10: Which thalamic nucleus is the primary relay for visual information to primary visual cortex?
Answer: Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Thalamic relay station for vision before reaching V1.
Flashcard 11: Which thalamic nucleus is the primary relay for auditory information to auditory cortex?
Answer: Medial geniculate nucleus (MGN). Thalamic relay station for hearing before reaching A1.
Flashcard 12: Which thalamic nucleus is the primary relay for somatosensory information to somatosensory cortex?
Answer: Ventral posterolateral nucleus (VPL). Relays body sensations (not face) to primary somatosensory cortex.
Flashcard 13: Identify the receptor type that detects mechanical deformation such as touch, pressure, and vibration.
Answer: Mechanoreceptors. Respond to physical distortion of cell membrane.
Flashcard 14: Identify the correct order of the visual pathway from retina to primary visual cortex.
Answer: Retina → optic nerve → LGN → optic radiations → V1. Visual signals relay through thalamus before reaching cortex.
Flashcard 15: Which sensory receptor type responds primarily to light (photons) in the retina?
Answer: Photoreceptors. Light-sensitive cells containing photopigments.
Flashcard 16: Which retinal photoreceptors mediate color vision and high visual acuity in bright light?
Answer: Cones. Contain photopigments for red, green, or blue light.
Flashcard 17: Which retinal photoreceptors support color vision and high visual acuity?
Answer: Cones. Contain opsins for red, green, or blue light; concentrated in fovea.
Flashcard 18: Which somatosensory receptors detect light touch and flutter in glabrous skin?
Answer: Meissner corpuscles. Rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors in hairless skin areas like fingertips.
Flashcard 19: Which somatosensory receptors detect deep pressure and vibration?
Answer: Pacinian corpuscles. Large, rapidly adapting mechanoreceptors sensitive to high-frequency vibrations.
Flashcard 20: Which somatosensory receptors detect skin stretch and sustained pressure?
Answer: Ruffini endings. Slowly adapting mechanoreceptors that signal continuous deformation.
Flashcard 21: Which somatosensory receptors detect temperature and pain (noxious stimuli)?
Answer: Free nerve endings (thermoreceptors and nociceptors). Unmyelinated nerve endings that respond to extreme temperatures and tissue damage.
Flashcard 22: What is the correct order of the auditory pathway from cochlea to cortex?
Answer: Cochlea → brainstem → inferior colliculus → MGN → A1. Sound ascends through brainstem nuclei and thalamus to temporal cortex.
Flashcard 23: Which thalamic nucleus relays visual information to primary visual cortex?
Answer: Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). LGN processes visual signals before sending to occipital lobe.
Flashcard 24: What is the key functional difference between rods and cones?
Answer: Rods: low light, low acuity; cones: color, high acuity. Rods excel in darkness; cones provide sharp, colorful daylight vision.
Flashcard 25: Which thalamic nucleus relays auditory information to primary auditory cortex?
Answer: Medial geniculate nucleus (MGN). MGN in thalamus processes sound before cortical analysis.
Flashcard 26: What is a sensory receptor in terms of transduction and the type of stimulus it detects?
Answer: A specialized cell that transduces a specific stimulus into neural signals. Receptors are specialized for one stimulus type and convert it to action potentials.
Flashcard 27: Which thalamic nucleus relays visual information to the primary visual cortex?
Answer: Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Part of thalamus that processes and relays retinal input to V1.
Flashcard 28: Which sensory modality bypasses the thalamus on its initial route to cortex?
Answer: Olfaction (smell). Olfactory signals project directly to cortex without thalamic relay.
Flashcard 29: What is tonotopic organization in the cochlea?
Answer: Base codes high frequency; apex codes low frequency. Frequency mapping along cochlear length enables pitch discrimination.
Flashcard 30: What is the main somatosensory pathway for pain and temperature?
Answer: Spinothalamic (anterolateral) pathway. Crosses spinal cord to carry nociceptive and thermal signals.