Touch, Taste, Smell
Touch is essential to development Premature babies gain weight faster when given massages Infant rats deprived of mothers’ grooming touch have stunted growth Monkeys deprived of mothers touch are traumatized
Sense of Touch Combination of four skin senses: pressure, warmth, cold and pain Controlled by somatosensory cortex in parietal lobes Sensitivity varies between body parts
How do we sense pain? Gate-Control Theory There are pain gates in the spinal cord (open=pain, closed=no pain) Different types of stimulation cannot be sent through the gates simultaneously Conflicting stimulation closes the gate Acupuncture, ice, rubbing
Pain Control Pain can be treated both physically and psychologically -relaxation, distraction -Lamaze, hospital study (Ulrich 1984)
Sense of Smell Olfaction Receptor cells in the olfactory membrane transduce chemicals from the air Olfactory bulb has a direct link to limbic system (memory and emotion) through olfactory nerve Pheromones chemical messengers processed through smell
Sense of Taste Gustation: transducing chemicals from food Gustatory (taste) receptor cells found in taste buds taste buds embedded in papilla (bumps) across the tongue sense all flavors 5 types of taste buds (sweet, sour, salt, bitter, umami (savory) Flavor=smell+taste Why did we develop a sense of taste?
Each bud contains elongated taste cells that respond to sweet, salty, sour, bitter or umami (savory).
Kinesthetic Sense Tells the brain where the parts of the body are relative to one another Controlled by sense receptors on the joints and muscles damage=apraxia: inability to manipulate objects
Vestibular Sense Tells the brain about the position of the head relative to the body and ground/aids in balance Controlled by fluid-filled sacs in the semicircular canals of the inner ear Connects to cerebellum and eyes