OTHER SENSES
UNIT 4
Modified PowerPoint from: Aneeq Ahmad -- Henderson State University. Worth Publishers © 2007
SKIN AND BODY (SOMATIC)
SENSES
Sense of touch is a mix of four distinct skin
senses- pressure, warmth, cold, and pain.
Bruce Ayers/ Stone/ Getty
Images
SKIN SENSES
Only pressure has identifiable receptors, all other
skin sensations are variations of pressures,
warmth, cold and pain.
Pressur
e
Burning
Vibration
Vibration
Cold, warmth and pain
PAIN
Pain tells the body that something has gone wrong.
Usually pain results from damage to the skin and
other tissues.
There is a rare disease in which a person feels no
pain…known as congenital insensitivity to pain.
Main features of CIP…
● lack of pain sensation
● injuries to arms, legs,
mouth
● inability to sweat
● infection of joints
AP Photo/ Stephen
Morton
● bone fractures
Ashley Blocker (right) feels neither pain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vLsZ_dXFAg&feat
ure=youtu.be
BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL
INFLUENCES
GATE-CONTROL THEORY
Melzak and Wall (1965, 1983) proposed that our
spinal cord contains neurological “gates” that either
block pain or allow it to be sensed.
Substance P
Neurotransmitter involved in the
transmission of pain
messages…tells the gate to
“open” and send the message to
the brain
GATE-CONTROL THEORY
Where are the pain messages sent in the brain?
PAIN CONTROL
Pain can be controlled by a number of therapies
including, drugs, surgery, acupuncture, exercise,
hypnosis and even thought distraction.
PHANTOM LIMB PAIN
Pain is NOT merely the result of stimulation…
Phantom Limb Pain (Sensation): people who are
missing a limb feel painful sensations that seem to
be originating from the missing part
● phantom limb sensations could be due to
"cross wiring" in the somatosensory cortex
with nearby areas taking over for the
missing limb, so stimulation of those
parts cause a “sensation” in missing limb
TASTE (GUSTATION)
Papillae shown by dyeing
the tongue…
Taste buds
regenerate
approximately
every two weeks!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/articles/senses/tongue_experiment.shtml
TASTE
Traditionally taste sensations consisted of 4
tastes...
Sou
r
Bitter
Sweet
Salty
Recently receptors 2 other tastes have been
discovered…
Umami….
now
recognized
as 5th taste
Astringent
SMELL (OLFACTION)
Like taste smell is a chemical sense. Odorants
enter the nasal cavity to stimulate 5 millions
receptors to sense smell. Humans can detect
about 10,000 odors..
Olfactory
receptors in the
nasal cavity
regenerate
approximately
once a month.
SMELL AND MEMORIES
Brain region (red) for
smell is closely
connected with brain
regions (limbic system)
involved with memory,
that is why strong
memories are made
through the sense of
smell.
SENSORY INTERACTION
When one sense affects another sense sensory
interaction takes place.
So the taste of strawberry interacts with its smell
and its texture on the tongue (touch) to produce
flavor.
BODY POSITION AND
MOVEMENT
The sense of our INDIVIDUAL body parts’ position
and movement is called kinesthesis.
And the vestibular sense monitors the head (and
body’s whole) position…located in the ear.
http://www.heyokamagazine.co
m
Whirling Dervishes
Bob Daemmrich/ The Image
Works
Wire Walk