#PAGE_PARAMS# #ADS_HEAD_SCRIPTS# #MICRODATA#

Outline of the physiology and pathophysiology of the senses


Authors: O. Kittnar
Authors‘ workplace: Fyziologický ústav 1. lékařské fakulty UK, Praha, přednosta prof. MUDr. Otomar Kittnar, CSc.
Published in: Vnitř Lék 2007; 53(5): 477-482
Category:

Overview

Sense organs are considered as systems that detect information from the outer and inner environment and transfer it to the central nervous system where it is processed by a series of brain structures which make it the basis for the conscious interpretation of the surrounding world. The work discusses sense receptors as nerve structures recording specific forms of energy in our surroundings and their key function, so-called transduction, i.e. the conversion of energy of a given modality to electrical energy of the action potentials of afferent nerves. The information encoded in this form is then brought together in subcortical (thalamic) centres for processing and synthesis in the cerebral cortex. The specific implementation of this general framework is given for each of the main sense systems: somatosensory, sight, hearing, vestibular, taste and smell. The basic disorders of sense perception, their usual aetiologies and the pathogenic mechanisms responsible for their development and symptoms are outlined briefly.

Key words:
senses – receptor – transduction – afferent pathway – thalamus – cerebral cortex


Sources

1. Trojan S et al. Lékařská fyziologie. 4. ed. Praha: Avicenum-Grada Praha 2003.

2. Nečas E et al. Patologická fyziologie orgánových systémů. Praha: Karolinum 2003: Vol 2.

3. Borley NR, Achan V. Instant Physiology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing 2005.

Labels
Diabetology Endocrinology Internal medicine

Article was published in

Internal Medicine

Issue 5

2007 Issue 5

Most read in this issue
Topics Journals
Login
Forgotten password

Enter the email address that you registered with. We will send you instructions on how to set a new password.

Login

Don‘t have an account?  Create new account

#ADS_BOTTOM_SCRIPTS#