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The Other Senses

Module 12

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Sensation Overview

The Other Senses Hearing Touch Pain Taste Smell Body Position and Movement

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Hearing / Audition

The Stimulus Input: Sound Waves

Sound waves are compressing and expanding air molecules in the atmosphere.

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Sound Wave

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Frequency (Pitch)

Frequency (pitch):

Determined by the

wavelength of sound.

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Frequency of Sound Waves

• The frequency of a sound wave is measured as the number of cycles per second (Hertz)– 20,000 Hz Highest Frequency we can hear– 4,186 Hz Highest note on a piano– 1,000 Hz Highest pitch of human voice– 100 Hz Lowest pitch of human voice– 27 Hz Lowest note on a piano

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Intensity (Loudness)

Intensity (Loudness):

Amount of energy in a wave,

determined by the amplitude, relates to the perceived

loudness.

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Loudness of Sound

70dB

120dB

Richard K

aylin/ Stone/ Getty Im

ages

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Maximum level of industrial noise considered safe

Characteristics of Sound Waves

20 40 60 80 100 1600 120 180140

Loud thunder or rock concert

Pain Pain ThresholdThreshold

City bus

Normal conversation

Subway

db

Noisy automobile

Absolute threshold of human hearing

Quiet office

Whisper Rocket launch

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The Ear

Dr. Fred H

ossler/ Visuals U

nlimited

Link Shepherds ascending scale

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Hairs in the inner ear

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The Ear

Outer Ear/Pinna: Collects and sends sounds to the eardrum.

Middle Ear: Chamber between eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window.

Inner Ear: Innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

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CochleaCochlea: Coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in

the inner ear that transforms sound vibrations to auditory signals.

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Transduction of Sounds

• The structures of the ear transform changes in air pressure (sound waves) into vibrations of the Basilar Membrane

• As the Basilar Membrane vibrates it causes the hairs in the Hair Cells to bend

• The bending of the hairs leads to a change in the electrical potential within the cell

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Localization of SoundsBecause we have two ears, sounds that reach one ear faster than the other ear cause us to localize

the sound.

1. Intensity differences2. Time differences

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Audition

Conduction Hearing Loss hearing loss caused by damage to

the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea

Nerve Hearing Loss hearing loss caused by damage to

the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerve

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Audition Older people tend to hear low frequencies well

but suffer hearing loss for high frequencies

1time

10times

100times

1000times

32 64 128 256 512 1024 2048 4096 8192 16384

Frequency of tone in waves per second

Low Pitch High

Amplitude required forperception relative to 20-29 year-old group

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Phonemic RestorationOur Brains fill in for us

• Subjects asked to listen to a recording with a transcript and indicate where the recording was obscured by a cough.

• All subjects reported hearing the cough• 19/20 said there was not missing text (the

one person got the wrong phoneme)

• Le(COUGH)laturesLink Auditory Illusions

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Chemical and Body Senses Overview

• Touch and temperature• Pain• Gustation (taste)• Olfaction (smell)• Kinesthetic (location of body)• Vestibular (balance)

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Touch

The sense of touch is a mix of four distinct skin senses—pressure,

warmth, cold, and pain.

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etty

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25Rubber hand illusion Link 3.13

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PainPain tells the body that something has gone wrong. Usually pain results from damage to

the skin and other tissues.

A rare disease exists in which the afflicted person feels no pain.

Ashley Blocker (right) feels neither painnor extreme hot or cold. Link 4:23 Link 1:39

AP Photo/ Stephen M

orton

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Pain

• Nerve endings in body act as

nocioceptors– Pain gates regulate pain signals in 3 areas

• Brain stem – gate-control theory of pain• Spinal cord • Peripheral regulation of pain

– Phantom limbs• Up to 70% of amputees experience this

Ramachandran link for phantom limbs 9:24-17:43

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Human Diversity: Culture and Pain

• Bariba society – cultural emphasis on pain– Tolerate pain easily– Calm response to pain is part of Bariba

pride– Pregnant women don’t show labor pain

reaction, experience labor pain and birth alone

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Gate-Control Theory

Melzack and Wall (1965, 1983) proposed that our spinal cord contains neurological “gates” that either block pain or allow it to

be sensed.

Gary C

omer/ PhototakeU

SA.com

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Gate control animation

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Pain Control

Pain can be controlled by a number of therapies including, drugs, surgery,

acupuncture, exercise, hypnosis, and even thought distraction.

Todd R

ichards and Aric V

ills, U.W

. ©

Hunter H

offman, w

ww

.vrpain.com

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Taste

Traditionally, taste sensations consisted of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes.

Recently, receptors for a fifth taste have been discovered called “Umami”.

Sweet Sour Salty Bitter Umami(Fresh

Chicken)

Taste link at Nova

Blocking bitter taste at Nova

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Surface of tongue

Receptor cells

Pore

Bitter

Sour

Salty

Sweet and fatty

Sensory nerve fiber

Taste

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Taste on TED

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There are several types of papillae

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Taste

• Your sensitivity to taste will decline if you:– Smoke heavily– Consume large amounts of alcohol– Grow older

– Picky eating may be adaptive at PBS

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Taste and Cognition

• What you THINK about a food can change how you perceive it!

• $90 Btl. Wine rated as better than $10 wine….

• The twist….they were both the same wine• Our taste experience is subjective.

“Studies have indeed shown that when wines are tasted blind there is little correlation between a wines taste and its cost, but that there is strong correlation when the wines are not sampled blind.”

Link Beer tasting 5:26

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Taste• Culture and taste preferences:

http://http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Bizarre_Foods/Video/Andrew_Eats_Raw_Camel_Kidney_In_Ethiopia

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Anthony_Bourdain

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Bouba - Kiki

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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 to produce flavor.

Ramachandran on synesthesia 17:43 – 23:38

McGurk effect on Youtube

Synesthesia professor funk 4:37

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So how might you test this…• Do you see the triangle?

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People with number color synesthesia can much quicker than

you….

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Smell/Olfaction

Like taste, smell is a chemical sense. Odorants enter the nasal cavity to stimulate

5 million receptors to sense smell. Unlike taste, there are many different forms of

smell.

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Chemical Senses: The Flavors and Aromas of

Life• Olfaction

– Olfactory epithelium – top of nasal cavity – Pheromone detection of sweat and urine

• Vomeronasal organ• Influence human female reproductive cycles• Inhalation of male sex hormone and mood

changes• Males may respond to sex hormones

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Olfactory nerve to brain

Olfactory epithelium

Nasal cavity

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Age, Sex and Sense of Smell

Women

Men

10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99Age Group

4

3

2

0

Numberof correct

answers

Women and young adults have best sense of smell

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Smell and MemoriesThe brain region for

smell (in red) is closely connected

with the brain regions involved

with memory (limbic system).

That is why strong memories are

associated with odor.

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Body Position and Movement

The sense of our body parts’ position and movement is called kinesthesis. The

vestibular sense monitors the head (and body’s) position.

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Whirling Dervishes Wire Walk

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EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY(7th Edition in Modules)

David MyersPowerPoint Slides

Aneeq AhmadHenderson State

University, Lahey, Amy Jones, Bernstein, McGraw

Hill w/ Garber edits

Worth Publishers, © 2008