Brain and Central Nervous System

986 Words4 Pages
Describe the relationship between perception and sensation. Explaining clearly why we sometimes experience perceptual illusions. Sensation and perception although closely related, have distinct qualities that set them apart. Sensation is the stimulation of a sensory receptor which produces neural impulses that the brain interprets as a sound, visual image, odour, taste and pain. It occurs when the five sensory organs, thus eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin absorb energy from a physical stimulus in the environment. These sense organs register the stimulus with the physical properties, decodes it, and transform it into a neural signal that is then transmitted to the brain. Sensory receptors then convert this energy into neural impulses and send them to the brain. The five human senses all operate similarly, but each receives different information and sends it to a specialized region in the brain. Therefore, different sensations occur because each sense activates a different part of the brain. The brain interprets physical energy from the outside world as nerve signals and processes them into ways that they can be used. These signals are received by the senses for instance, vision occurs when the brain receives light waves which are transduced into neural signals that are sent away to be interpreted by the brain. We look with our eyes but see with our brain. Hearing allows us, like vision, to locate objects in space. Sound waves with a certain frequency (pitch ) and amplitude (loudness ) are processed by the brain in the auditory cortex. Smell (olfaction) odors interact with receptors in the nose which transfer a message to the olfactory bulbs located on the underside of the brain, which involves a chain of biochemical events, gustation (taste) soluble substances to flavors, and skin senses, external contact to touch, warmth, and coldness. However, there are

More about Brain and Central Nervous System

Open Document