What Are the Basic Sensory Processes?
3. In gustation, taste buds are chemical detectors: The gustatory sense uses taste buds to respond to the chemical substances producing basic sensations of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. The amount and concentration of taste buds vary individually. 4. In smell, the nasal cavity gathers particles of odor: Receptors in the olfactory epithelium respond to chemicals and send signals to the olfactory bulb in the brain. Pheromones are particular chemical signals linked to physiological responses in animals. 5. In touch, sensors in the skin detect pressure, temperature, and pain: The haptic sense relies on tactile stimulation to activate receptors for temperature, sharp and dull pain, and other sensations. Neural “gates” in the spinal cord also control pain. 6. In hearing, the ear is a sound-wave detector: The size and shape of sound waves activate hair cells in the inner ear. The receptors respond depending on frequency of the sound waves, timing, and the location of the activated receptors
