Each sensory system is obviously quite different in the type of stimulation that it responds to and the manner in which environmental stimuli is converted to neuronal signaling. However, there are many principles that can be generalized across sensory systems.

Sensory transduction

Our sensory systems work by converting different types of stimuli in the environment (i.e. visible light, sound waves, chemical molecules) into action potentials in the nervous system. This conversion is called sensory transduction and occurs in all sensory systems.

Sensory receptors

Sensory transduction begins at the sensory receptors. Each sensory system has specialized cells that are able to detect the environmental stimuli. Photoreceptors detect light, chemical receptors in the tongue and nose detect odors and taste, mechanoreceptors detect touch, and hair cells detect sound.

Receptor Potentials

We have learned about postsynaptic potentials in neurons, receptor potentials are similar membrane potential changes that happen in sensory receptors in response to a stimulus.

Receptive fields

Receptive fields are easiest to understand in the visual and somatosensory systems. The receptive field for a neuron is the region of the retina or skin where a stimulus (light or touch) will evoke a response in the neuron. Receptive fields in the auditory system can consist of a certain frequency of sound and/or the location of sound in space.

Receptive fields can vary in size and shape depending on the characteristics of neuron (i.e. type, location in body, location in pathway). Receptive fields become more complex as information travels to the brain.

Lateral Inhibition

Lateral inhibition is a process used by sensory systems to enhance the perception of signals, particularly at edges, points, or other changes in the stimulus. It occurs because overlapping receptive fields can inhibit each other. This inhibition enhances the perceived differences between the stimulus and the area not stimulated.

Neural Coding

There are a number of different ways in which the nervous system encodes complex information. Two that are common within the sensory systems are line coding and population coding.

Labeled Line Coding

In the labeled line coding of information, one cell encodes for one type of sensory quality. Pain is a good example of this. If a pain receptor is activated, the resulting sensation will be pain, regardless of the manner in which the receptor is stimulated. In other words, the sensory neurons are specifically tuned to one sensory stimulus. If that receptor-cell type was dysfunctional, the sensation will not be perceived. For example, there is a mutation that prevents sodium channels in pain receptors (but not other cell types) from working. When this mutation occurs, the subject cannot feel pain.

Population Coding

In populating coding, one cell can encode more than one sensory modality, and it is the combination of many cells that make up the perception. An example of this is color vision. Each color photoreceptor is most sensitive to a specific color (blue, green, or red), but a range of wavelengths can elicit changes in firing rates in the neuron. Therefore, the responses from a population of color photoreceptors must be combined to perceive the full spectrum of color.

Higher level processing of taste and olfaction also uses population coding – sometimes the sense of smell is needed in addition to the sense of taste to fully perceive a flavor. Have you ever been congested from a cold and food just doesn’t taste the same? That’s due to this combining of the senses for a full perception.

Pathways

In general, the route sensory information takes from the periphery to the central nervous system is similar among most of the systems. Environmental stimuli become encoded by a specialized receptor in the periphery. Information then enters the central nervous system via the spinal cord or brainstem and relays through the thalamus, a structure that sits deep in the forebrain. The only sensory system that does not relay through the thalamus is the olfactory system. The thalamus then sends projections out to the primary cortical regions for each sensory system.

Role of the Thalamus

It’s common to hear that sensory information “relays” through the thalamus on the way to the cortex (for example, in the paragraph above). This language can give the impression that the thalamus is only responsible for making sure the sensory signal gets from periphery to the cortex. This greatly underestimates the thalamic role. The thalamus is known to contribute to the processing and modification of the sensory signal.