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Modalities of Sensation

The sensory system detects various sensory modalities via receptors located throughout the body. Sensory receptors are specialized to respond to stimuli like light, chemicals, mechanics, heat, or pain. When activated, receptors generate action potentials that travel to the central nervous system. The modality being sensed depends on the type of receptor, like nociceptors for pain, mechanoreceptors for touch and vibration, or thermoreceptors for temperature. Different receptor types adapt differently to prolonged stimulation.

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55 views

Modalities of Sensation

The sensory system detects various sensory modalities via receptors located throughout the body. Sensory receptors are specialized to respond to stimuli like light, chemicals, mechanics, heat, or pain. When activated, receptors generate action potentials that travel to the central nervous system. The modality being sensed depends on the type of receptor, like nociceptors for pain, mechanoreceptors for touch and vibration, or thermoreceptors for temperature. Different receptor types adapt differently to prolonged stimulation.

Uploaded by

KELVIN
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Modalities of

Sensation
MIRITI M.D
KMTC LECTURE SERIES
MEDICAL PHYSIOLOGY II
Introduction

The sensory system consists of sensory receptors


located at the peripheral endings of afferent
neurones, the ascending pathways in the spinal cord
and the brain centres responsible for sensory
processing and perception.
Hence, it spans both the
central nervous system (CNS) and the
peripheral nervous system (PNS).
It acts to detect the various sensory modalities via
receptors.
Sensory Receptors

Sensory receptors exist internally and externally


around the body and are activated via different
stimuli. They are designed to respond to the body’s
interaction with the external environment or its
internal state. Sensory receptors are specialised to
respond to stimuli of the following: light, chemical,
mechanical, thermal or nociceptive stimuli. The
activated sensory receptor generates an action
potential, which propagates along the axon to reach
the CNS.
Sensory Transduction

A stimulus to a sensory receptor results in a change


in the cell membrane’s ionic permeability, which
leads to a generation of an action potential.
This process of converting a sensory signal into an
electrical signal is known as sensory
transduction.
In general, a higher intensity stimulus will generate a
higher frequency of action potentials along the
neurone.
However, different types of receptors will adapt to
prolonged stimulation in different ways:
• Tonic receptors are slow adapting receptors. They
will respond to the stimulus as long as it persists, and
produce a continuous frequency of action potentials.
Hence, they convey information about the duration
of the stimulus.
• Phasic receptors are rapidly adapting receptors.
They will respond quickly to stimuli but stop
responding upon continuous stimulation. Therefore,
action potential frequency decreases during
prolonged stimulation. This class of receptor conveys
information about the changes to the stimulus such
as intensity
Sensory Modality

Sensory modalities can be thought of


as subtypes of sensory experiences,
such as pain, temperature, pressure etc.
Each sensory modality is perceived by a
class of specialised receptors:
Nociceptors
Mechanoreceptors
Thermoreceptors
Nociceptors

Nociceptors are receptors, which respond to


noxious stimuli (stimuli that would cause tissue
injury if they were to persist) and their activation
results in the sensation of pain.
The receptors are free nerve endings, found on the
ends of the type Aδ fibres and type C fibres that
transmit the pain sensation.
These are further categorised into:
Mechanical – stimulated by the
distension of skin (stretch) and pressure
eg. in inflammation
Thermal – stimulated by extremities of
temperature
Chemical – stimulated by exogenous and
endogenous chemical agents, such as
prostanoids, histamines etc
Polymodal – can respond to more than
one stimuli
Mechanoreceptors

These are located in joint


capsules, ligaments, tendons,
muscle and skin, and respond
to deformation by the means
of pressure, touch,
vibration or stretch.
• Merkel’s discs: These are tonic receptors present in
skin, near the border of the dermis and epidermis.
They respond to pressure and are particularly
sensitive to edges, corners and points. They play a
key role in differentiating textures.
• Meissner’s corpuscles: These are phasic receptors
present in the dermis of the skin, namely on the palms
of the hands, soles of the feet, lips and tongue. They
detect the initial contact with objects or slipping of
the objects held in hand.
• Pacinian corpuscles: These are phasic receptors
are present in the dermis, hypodermis, ligaments and
external genitalia. They respond to high-frequency
vibration and are crucial in our ability to detect
vibrations transmitted through objects in our hands.
• Ruffini corpuscles: These are tonic receptors
present in the dermis, ligaments and tendons. They
are the least understood of the mechanoreceptors.
They respond to stretch and signal position and
movements of fingers.
• Muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs:
These exist in skeletal muscle and detect stretch.
The detected stimuli contribute to the generation of
reflexes at the level of the spinal cord. Additionally,
the signals are transmitted to
the dorsal column medial lemniscal pathway (DCML)
, subsequently reaching the cerebral cortex and
providing information about posture, position and
orientation of limbs and joints in space –
proprioception.
Thermoreceptors

Thermoreceptors are found within the skin, liver,


skeletal muscle and hypothalamus. They respond to
changes in temperature. Those responding to warm
temperatures are present within type C fibres,
whereas those responding to cold are present within
of both type C and type Aδ fibres. Cold
thermoreceptors are thought to be around three
times more common than those responding to
warmth.
• A warm stimulus results in both an increase in
firing for warm receptors and a decrease in
firing for cold receptors (and vice versa for
cool stimuli). Initially, the response of
receptors changes very quickly based on
minute temperature changes, however, after a
time, this phasic activity switches to
a tonic response, allowing adaptation to the
temperature if it remains constant.
• Temperature stimuli are transmitted to the
central nervous system via the lateral
spinothalamic tract, a part of
the anterolateral system.
• All modalities have different
qualities that can be felt. For
example, pain can be sharp/aching,
the temperature can be
hot/warm/cold. The quality felt
depends on the subtype of the
activated receptor, whereas its
intensity depends on the strength
of the stimulus.

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