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What is a Sensory System?

Geisha A. Legazpi
Geisha A. Legazpi

A sensory system is the part of the nervous system that consists of neural pathways, sensory receptors, and brain parts that process sensory information. Sensory receptors recognize stimuli from both internal and external environments, neural pathways conduct information from the stimuli to the brain, and the brain processes the information. The human sensory system is further subdivided into somatosensory system, visual system, auditory and vestibular system, gustatory system, and olfactory system.

Sensory receptors are specialized nerve endings that encode type, spatial location, intensity, duration, threshold, and frequency of stimuli. Stimuli may come from the internal or external environment, and they excite sensory receptors. Sensory receptors are classified according to the stimulus type they respond to. In humans, the different types of sensory receptors in the somatosensory system include the mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors, nociceptors, and muscle spindle stretch receptors. The sensory systems for vision, hearing and balance, taste, and olfaction, each have their own set of sensory receptors.

The nervous system is a crucial part of the sensory system.
The nervous system is a crucial part of the sensory system.

Mechanoreceptors detect changes in pressure or touch. Thermoreceptors recognize changes in temperature. Nociceptors detect excessive heat and severe pressure that cause tissue damage and release of chemicals by damaged tissue. Muscle spindle stretch receptors detect posture and movement.

Photoreceptors are found in the visual system. They contain photopigments that absorb light energy. Hair cells of the organ of Corti are found in the auditory and vestibular system. They detect pressure waves from sound stimulus as well as changes in posture and movement. Gustatory and olfaction systems rely on chemoreceptors that detect tastes and odors, respectively.

The iris, lens, retina and optic nerve are just a few parts of the visual system.
The iris, lens, retina and optic nerve are just a few parts of the visual system.

These sensory receptors convert the stimuli into electrical energy, which is conducted along the neural pathways. The neural pathways of the sensory system are afferent neurons that diverge and synapses that conduct information, the electrical energy, from a single stimulus. In the somatosensory system, the most important neural pathways are the dorsal column-medial lemniscus pathway and the spinothalamic tract. A neural pathway in the visual system involves an optic nerve, while those of the auditory and vestibular systems involve the cochlear nerve and vestibular nerve, respectively. Receptors of the gustatory system involves facial, glossopharyngeal, and vagus nerves that synapse in the nucleus of the solitary tract found in the brain, and finally, receptors of the olfactory system involves olfactory nerves that connect with olfactory glomeruli found at the base of the cranial cavity, just below the frontal lobe of the brain.

The sensory system allows us to have a sense of balance.
The sensory system allows us to have a sense of balance.

Except for the olfactory system, the neural pathways conduct information to the thalamus, and information is transmitted from it to the appropriate location in the cerebral cortex. Information from visual stimuli is transmitted to the occipital lobe, while that from auditory and vestibular stimuli is transmitted to the temporal lobe, and brain stem and cerebellum, respectively. Gustatory and somatosensory stimuli information is transmitted to the parietal lobe. Although information from the olfactory stimuli can reach the thalamus, its neural pathway does not need to relay information to the thalamus. The information is transmitted directly to the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex.

Discussion Comments

anon340585

I started divalproex sod er 1000 mg per night. This is new for me as a mood stabilizer. I am having olfactory hallucination, that started a week or two before the new meds. I was on leapfrog and Xanax for depression, but was hearing voices, and on and on. the olfactory hallucinations started as jasmine flowers. Now it is peanuts, mold and cookies. Should I be more than a little concerned?

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    • The nervous system is a crucial part of the sensory system.
      By: Sebastian Kaulitzki
      The nervous system is a crucial part of the sensory system.
    • The iris, lens, retina and optic nerve are just a few parts of the visual system.
      By: kocakayaali
      The iris, lens, retina and optic nerve are just a few parts of the visual system.
    • The sensory system allows us to have a sense of balance.
      By: Rob hyrons
      The sensory system allows us to have a sense of balance.
    • Mechanoreceptors register changes in touch.
      By: Svetlana Fedoseeva
      Mechanoreceptors register changes in touch.
    • A synapse provides a connection between neurons that allows sensory information to flow between them.
      By: ThorstenSchmitt
      A synapse provides a connection between neurons that allows sensory information to flow between them.
    • Most neural pathways conduct information to the thalamus.
      By: Alila Medical Media
      Most neural pathways conduct information to the thalamus.