Chapter 7: Audition, Body Senses, and The Chemical Senses

Chapter 7 opens with a review of the auditory system. The chapter describes the anatomy of the auditory system from inner hair cells to auditory cortex. The functions of the auditory system relating to pitch and loudness as well as feature detection are summarized. The second chapter section covers the anatomy of the vestibular system. The somatosenses including touch, temperatures, and pain are described in the third section. The gustatory and olfactory systems are reviewed in the last chapter section.

After completing the chapter, each student should be able:

• Name the three physical dimensions of sound
• Describe the parts of the ear
• Explain how sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea of the inner ear
• Name the structures that comprise the Organ of Corti
• Describe the role of cilia in transducing sound waves into nerve potentials
• Diagram the pathway followed by auditory information form ear to cortex.
• Explain why the inner hair cells in the Organ of Corti are critical for hearing
• Explain the concept of tonotopic organization
• Describe how different sound frequencies vibrate different areas of the basilar membrane
• Review the detection of pitch and of timbre
• Describe the structures and functions of the vestibular system
• Differentiate the senses that comprise the somatosenses
• Name the stimuli that activate the cutaneous senses
• Differentiate the cutaneous receptor types found in hairy vs. glabrous skin
• Explain how the Pacinian corpuscle transduces mechanical stimulation
• Explain the process of tactile adaptation
• Name the class of tactile receptors that sense change in skin temperature
• Name the stimuli that activate pain perception
• Diagram the somatosensory pathways including the:
• Spinothalamic tracts
• Dorsal column systems

• Enumerate the factors that modify the perception of pain
• Explain how electrical stimulation of brain produces pain relief
• Differentiate taste from flavor
• List the four fundamental taste qualities
• Describe the distribution of taste receptors on the tongue according to taste quality
• Describe the evidence suggesting similarity between sweet and bitter taste receptors
• Describe the proposed taste qualities of Umami and complex carbohydrates
• Diagram the path taken by gustatory information to cortex.
• Describe nature of olfactory stimuli.
• Describe neural organization of the olfactory system.