Anatomy and Physiology: Sense Organs

• Pain from stretched tissues originates in organs.
• Pain felt in a different area than its source is referred pain.
• Facial, glossopharyngeal, and vagus nerves transmit nerve impulses from taste receptors.
• The utricle and saccule contain sensory receptors for dynamic equilibrium.
• Tears contain enzymes that help prevent eye infections.
• When radial muscles of the eye contract, the pupil diameter increases.
• Rods are more light-sensitive than cones, while cones are crucial for color vision.
• The conjunctiva lines the inner eyelid surface and covers the anterior sclera surface.
• Acute pain fibers are myelinated, not unmyelinated, and do not produce a dull, aching sensation.
• Taste buds adapt quickly, so the first bite of food does not taste better than subsequent bites.
• Taste sensation is conducted to the limbic system via the thalamus.
• The auditory tube connects the throat to the middle ear and equalizes air pressure.
• Auditory ossicles amplify vibrations from the outer to the inner ear.
• Proprioceptors influence the sense of equilibrium.
• The innermost layer of the eyelid is the conjunctiva.
• Blood vessels pass through the optic disc of the eye.
• The optic disc is where nerve fibers meet.
• Rods are photoreceptors for black and while vision.
• Cones are not photoreceptors that provide black-and-white vision.
• The fovea centralis contains a high concentration of cones.
• Visual pathways from photoreceptors in the lateral half of each retina do not cross at the optic chiasm, instead they follow a straight pathway
• Olfactory receptors are chemoreceptors.
• Pain receptors are typically stimulated by factors that can damage tissues.
• Nervous tissue of the brain does not have pain receptors.
• Olfactory receptor cells are bipolar neurons.
• Taste receptors are modified epithelial cells.
• Pungent is not a primary taste sensation.
• The spiral organ contains the receptors for the sense of hearing.
• The frequency range for greatest human hearing sensitivity is 2000 to 3000 vibrations per second.
• The auditory nerve pathway synapses on the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe.
• Auditory ossicles are located in the middle ear.
• The auditory tube runs between the throat and the middle ear.
• The ampullae containing sensory receptors are located in the semicircular canals.

Key concepts in anatomy and physiology related to sense organs. Covering topics from pain perception and nerve transmission to vision, taste, and hearing mechanisms. Includes the function of eyes, ears and tongue.