Smell Taste and Flavor

102
in review
Chapter 3 Sensation and Perception
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Tutorial: The Ear and
Sound Waves
HEARING
Aspect of
Sensory System
Elements
Key Characteristics
Energy
Sound: pressure fluctuations
of air produced by vibrations
Amplitude, frequency, and
complexity of sound waves
determine the loudness,
pitch, and timbre of sounds.
Accessory
structures
of the ear
Pinna, eardrum, hammer,
anvil, stirrup, oval window,
basilar membrane
Changes in pressure
produced by the original
wave are amplified.
Conversion of
sound frequencies
into neural activity
Hair cells in the inner ear
Frequencies are coded by the
location of the hair cells
receiving the greatest
stimulation (place theory)
and by the combined firing
rate of neurons (volley
theory).
Pathway to the
brain
Auditory nerve to thalamus
to primary auditory cortex
Auditory cortex examines
patterns of information from
the auditory nerve, allowing
us to sense loudness, pitch,
and timbre.
?
1. Sound energy is converted to neural activity in an inner ear structure called
the
.
2. Hearing loss due to damage to hair cells or the auditory nerve is called
3. How high or low a sound sounds is called
and is determined by the
of a sound wave.
.
The Chemical Senses: Taste and Smell
䉴 Why can’t I taste anything when I have a cold?
There are animals without vision and animals without hearing, but there are no animals without some form of chemical sense. Chemical senses arise from the interaction of chemicals and receptors. Our sense of smell (olfaction) detects chemicals
that are airborne, or volatile. Our sense of taste (gustation) detects chemicals in
solution that come into contact with receptors inside the mouth. These systems are
connected.
Smell, Taste, and Flavor
sense of smell The sense that detects
chemicals that are airborne. Also called
olfaction.
sense of taste The sense that detects
chemicals in solution that come into
contact with receptors inside the
mouth. Also called gustation.
If you have a stuffy nose, everything tastes like cardboard. Why? Because smell and taste
act as two components of a single system, known as flavor (Rozin, 1982). Most of the
properties that make food taste good are actually odors detected by the olfactory system, not chemicals detected by the taste system. The scent and taste pathways converge
in the cerebral cortex (de Araujo et al., 2003), which is how smell and taste come to
seem like one sensation.
Both tastes and odors prompt strong emotional responses. People have an inborn
dislike of bitter flavors, but we have to learn to associate emotions with odors (Bartoshuk,