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Sensory Reception-Sensory Receptors and their Functions

August 22, 2022
written by Sidra Batool

Sensory receptors are specialized cells that detect stimuli from the environment. They send signals to the brain via nerves. The brain interprets these messages and sends back instructions to the body. Sensory receptors are cells located throughout our bodies that detect things such as temperature, pressure, pain, touch, taste, smell, and hearing. They send signals to the brain that tell us what’s happening around us.

The skin is the largest sensory organ in the animal body. It has more than 300 different types of receptors, which are specialized cells that respond to various stimuli. 

The human body has over 100 types of sensory receptors, each of which response differently to stimuli. For example, some receptors respond to heat or cold, while others respond to light or sound.

How Sensory Receptors work?

The cells that can convert environmental information into nerve impulses are referred to as sensory receptors. Any form of energy an animal can detect with its receptors is stimulation. The five human senses were identified by the mathematician. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch are some of the things that these are. The five senses are commonly referred to as the “five senses.” The animals have other senses as well. In the case of invertebrates, they possess sensory receptors. They are provided with information about their environment.

The senses are connected to the brain. The brain interprets the information from the senses. The brain is a central organ in the nervous system. The nerves carry messages from the brain to other parts of the body. The five senses are: Sight Hearing Smell Taste Touch Sight Vision is one of the five sense. It is how we see things. The eyes are organs that help us see. The eyes receive light from the sun or artificial sources.

Common Sensory  Receptors

There are the following common receptors:

  1. Tactile receptors: They respond to stimuli of touch.
  2. Georeceptors: They respond to stimuli of sense the pull of gravity.
  3. Hygroreceptors: They detect the water content in the air.
  4. Proprioceptors: They respond to mechanically induced change. It is caused by stretching, compressing, bending, and tension.
  5. Phonoreceptors: They are sensitive to sound.
  6. Baroreceptors: They respond to pressure changes
  7. Chemoreceptors: They respond to air and water-borne molecules.
  8. Photoreceptors: They sense light;
  9. Thermoreceptors: They detect a change in temperature.
  10. The majority of mammals have a sense of balance. A sense of body movement is what they have. They are also sensitive to touch. Pressure, heat, taste, vision, olfaction, auditioning, cold, pain, and various other stimuli.
  11. There are some receptors in the circulatory system That look for changes in blood pressure. Blood levels of carbon dioxide and hydrogen ions are also detected.
  12. Some receptors are present in the digestive system. They are involved in the perception of hunger and thirst.