Sensation and Perception
Sensation is the process by which stimulation of a sensory receptor produces neural impulses that the brain interprets as a sound, visual image, an odor, a taste , a pain, or other sensory image. Sensation represents the first series of steps in the processing of incoming information. Perception is a process that makes sensory patterns meaningful. It is perception that makes these words meaningful, rather than just a string of visual patterns. To make this happen, perception draws heavy on memory, motivation, emotion, and other psychological processes.
The sensory receptors in our body use specialized techniques and send the neural messages to predetermined portions of the brain. Each of our sensory receptors (for each of our five senses) reach a part of the process called transduction. during transduction the physical energy such as light or sound waves are turned into neural messages so that the brain can read and react to them.
To me the most interesting sensory receptor has to be the ear. We hear millions of sounds a day. It is amazing how the ear can filter those we want to hear and dim the sounds we don't. Our ears can tell the pitch, amplitude, and frequency of a sound. Most people don't even know the difference. How the ear recognizes sound is when there is a sound wave enters our inner ear and hits the tympanic membrane which is a small piece of tissue also known as the eardrum the sound which at the moment is just vibrations travel to three tiny bones in the inner ear. These bones are the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup. They then receive and carry these vibrations to the cochlea. In the cochlea there is fluid which causes the process of transduction. The fluid moves the basilar membrane which is a small skinny strip of tissue that is the final resting point of the sympathetic vibrations. Small hair like cells in the basilar membrane convert vibrations into readable neural impulses. Now the brain can understand them. The auditory cortex then brings the neural impulse to its specified region of the brain, the auditory cortex.
All these motions happen in fractions of a second is crazy to think about. Even though they are so small they are a crucial part to our being. Though amazing, our ears are sometimes flawed. Something in our inner ear could go wrong leading to deafness. There are two types of deafness. One is conduction deafness and the other one is nerve deafness. Conduction deafness is when your inner ear can't properly convert your vibrations into neural impulses usually resulting from trauma often seen in veterans. Nerve deafness is when your auditory nerve is damaged. Usually resulting from a birth defect. A often asked question is "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound?" I would have to say no. Seeing as in we perceive sound and transform it into the "sound"we know then if nones around to hear it then how could it make a sound. It's another crazy thing to think about. It also makes our body and our sensations that much better. There's so many things out there in the would we would never know if it wasn't for the transduction and perception that happens every second in our body we'd miss so much.
bibliography
http://depion.blogspot.com/2011/06/tips-to-clean-ear-wax.html
http://myselfcareblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-celebrate-your-senses.html
The sensory receptors in our body use specialized techniques and send the neural messages to predetermined portions of the brain. Each of our sensory receptors (for each of our five senses) reach a part of the process called transduction. during transduction the physical energy such as light or sound waves are turned into neural messages so that the brain can read and react to them.
To me the most interesting sensory receptor has to be the ear. We hear millions of sounds a day. It is amazing how the ear can filter those we want to hear and dim the sounds we don't. Our ears can tell the pitch, amplitude, and frequency of a sound. Most people don't even know the difference. How the ear recognizes sound is when there is a sound wave enters our inner ear and hits the tympanic membrane which is a small piece of tissue also known as the eardrum the sound which at the moment is just vibrations travel to three tiny bones in the inner ear. These bones are the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup. They then receive and carry these vibrations to the cochlea. In the cochlea there is fluid which causes the process of transduction. The fluid moves the basilar membrane which is a small skinny strip of tissue that is the final resting point of the sympathetic vibrations. Small hair like cells in the basilar membrane convert vibrations into readable neural impulses. Now the brain can understand them. The auditory cortex then brings the neural impulse to its specified region of the brain, the auditory cortex.
All these motions happen in fractions of a second is crazy to think about. Even though they are so small they are a crucial part to our being. Though amazing, our ears are sometimes flawed. Something in our inner ear could go wrong leading to deafness. There are two types of deafness. One is conduction deafness and the other one is nerve deafness. Conduction deafness is when your inner ear can't properly convert your vibrations into neural impulses usually resulting from trauma often seen in veterans. Nerve deafness is when your auditory nerve is damaged. Usually resulting from a birth defect. A often asked question is "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound?" I would have to say no. Seeing as in we perceive sound and transform it into the "sound"we know then if nones around to hear it then how could it make a sound. It's another crazy thing to think about. It also makes our body and our sensations that much better. There's so many things out there in the would we would never know if it wasn't for the transduction and perception that happens every second in our body we'd miss so much.
bibliography
http://depion.blogspot.com/2011/06/tips-to-clean-ear-wax.html
http://myselfcareblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-celebrate-your-senses.html