QUIZ 6.3
What is unusual about olfactory receptors compared to most other mature mammalian neurons?
They are replaceable when old neurons die.
Each receptor responds to a wide range of stimuli and contributes to the perception of each of them. This type of coding is referred to as ____.
across-fiber
In adult humans, the taste buds are ____.
concentrated along the outside edge of the tongue
Reduced response to one taste after exposure to another is referred to as ____.
cross-adaptation
Taste and smell axons converge onto many of the same cells in an area called the ____.
endopiriform cortex
How many kinds of olfactory receptors do we have?
hundreds
Olfactory information is coded in receptor cells through ____.
hundreds of types of receptor molecules, each responsive to a different chemical
Each receptor responds to a limited range of stimuli and sends a direct line to the brain. This type of coding is referred to as ____.
labeled-line
The receptors for taste are ____.
modified skin cells
The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is a set of receptors located ____.
near, but separate from, the olfactory receptors
The taste nerves initially project to the ____.
nucleus tractus solitarius
Olfactory receptors carry their message to the ____.
olfactory bulb
Many women living in a college dormitory will gradually begin to synchronize their menstrual cycles. The research indicates that this is, at least in part, based on ____.
pheremones
Taste perception in the brain depends on ____.
relative activity of different taste neurons
Olfaction also plays a subtle role in ____.
social behavior
A person who "sees" spoken language or music may be experiencing ____.
synesthesia
We can identify a wide variety of bitter substances because ____.
we have many different bitter receptors
If you are a supertaster, then ____.
you are more sensitive than the average person to nearly all tastes
Olfactory information is coded in receptor cells through ____.
hundreds of types of receptor molecules, each responsive to a different chemical
Repeated exposure to male pheromones may be associated with ____ in young women who are not sexually active.
more regular menstrual cycles
Chemicals that prevent sodium from crossing the membrane ____.
reduce the intensity of salty tastes