Chapter 5 - Sensory & Perception

Question 1

Orbitofrontal cortex

Answer 1

Receives info from smell, taste, and visual systems, Flavour perception
The OFC mixes smell, taste, and sight signals to help your brain decide how something tastes (flavor).

Question 2

Somatosensation

Answer 2

Your sense of touch detects temperature, pressure, and pain.

Question 3

Mechanoreceptors

Answer 3

special sensory receptors in your skin that respond when something presses, stretches, or moves it — basically, when there’s physical contact or pressure.

Question 4

Primary Somatosensory Cortex

Answer 4

This is the part of your brain that processes touch information.

Question 5

Somatotopic organization

Answer 5

Means that body parts next to each other on your body are also represented next to each other in the brain.

More sensitive areas (like your lips and fingertips) have more brain area devoted to them because they need to detect smaller details.

Question 6

sensory homunculus

Answer 6

The sensory homunculus is a visual map of how much brain space each body part gets — showing that sensitive areas look bigger on the map.

Question 7

Nocieptors

Answer 7

pain receptors — special nerve endings that activate when your body experiences damage or potential damage (like being cut, burned, or hit).

Question 8

Gate Control Theory of Pain

Answer 8

Pain isn’t just about injury — your spinal cord acts like a “gate”.

Gate open → pain signals go to your brain → you feel pain

Gate closed → pain signals blocked → you feel less pain

Easy example:

• You bump your knee → it hurts
• You rub your knee → touch signals “close the gate” → pain decreases

Memory trick:
- Gate = spinal cord switch for pain

Pain is controlled by a “gate” in the spinal cord that can allow or block pain signals from reaching the brain.