Ch. 8 Neuro Terms

sense of taste

the sense of smell

any sensory receptor selective for chemicals

a small protuberance on the surface of the tongue that contains taste buds

a cluster of cells, including taste receptor cells, in papillae of the tongue

a modified epithelial cell that transduces taste stimuli

a stimulus-induced change in the membrane potential on a sensory receptor

the transformation of sensory stimulus energy into a cellular signal, such as a receptor potential

a nucleus in the brain stem that receives primary taste input

the part of the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus that receives somatosensory input from the face, including afferents from the tongue

the area of neocortex that receives taste info from the ventroposterior medial nucleus

the representation of sensory, motor, cognitive info by activity distributed over a large number of neurons. Ex: color; it's encoded by the relative activity of the types of retinal cones

olfactory stimulus used for chemical communication between individuals

a sheet of cells lining part of the nasal passages that contains olfactory receptor neurons

a bulb shaped brain structure derived from the telencephalon that receives input from olfactory receptor neurons

a cluster of neurons in the olfactory bulb that receives input from olfactory receptor neurons

the region of the cerebral cortex connected to the olfactory bulb and seperated from the neocortex by the rhinal fissure

a representation of sensory info within a neural structure that preserves the spatial organization of that info established on the sensory organ. ex: retinotopic maps in the superior colliculus, lateral geniculate nucleus, and visual cortex, where neurons in specific places respond selectively to stimulation of specific parts of the retina

the representation of info by the timing of action pontentials rather than by their average rate