Sensory capacities

King, J.E. and Forbes, J.L. (1974) Evolutionary changes in primate sensory capacities. J. Human Evol., 3, 435—443. 

Development of reflexes, neuromotor coordination and sensory capacity Development of reflexes, neuromotor coordination and sensory capacity are aspects of neurobehavioral functioning that are tested relatively often. In particular, different reflex and neuromotor tests have been developed. These behavioral tests have the advantage that they can also be measured in young rat pups. Furthermore, normal neuromotor and sensory functioning can be assumed to be prerequisites for normal performance in most other behavioral tests. 

Olfactory, visual, auditory, vestibular and tactile functioning and pain and temperature sensitivity should all be tested. Not only the presence or absence of sensory functioning, but also the range of sensitivity should be investigated. For instance, not only the capacity to hear is Important, but also the range of frequencies that can be detected. There are tests for most aspects of sensory capacity, several of vhich can be used in their present form in young rat pups (see e.g. refs. 109, 136, 177, 182, 186, 188). 

Thus, from this discussion of analytic instruments, we find that the conception of instrumentation advanced by empiricist-oriented philosophers is flawed. For empiricists, instruments are designed to expand the limited sensory capacities, so that the... 

Acnte poisoning from overdose can produce pallor, fever, bluish skin, nausea, vomiting, elevated heart rate, elevated blood pressure, respiratory distress, and loss of sensory capacities. Death can occur from overdose, after high fever, convulsions, and shock. 

The human sensory apparatus varies in sensitivity from person to person. Therefore, in the selection of panelists for sensory evaluation purposes the first step is to establish the limits of their sensory capacities by determining their perception thresholds for basic tastes, flavor, and odor recognition. 

Finally, there are a number of hazards which cannot be perceived by humans because they don t discharge stimuli or, if they do, these stimuli are beyond their sensory capacities. 

The human brain is comprised of many millions of interconnected units, known individually as biological neurons. Each neuron consists of a cell to which is attached several dendrites (inputs) and a single axon (output). The axon connects to many other neurons via connection points called synapses. A synapse produces a chemical reaction in response to an input. The biological neuron fires if the sum of the synaptic reactions is sufficiently large. The brain is a complex network of sensory and motor neurons that provide a human being with the capacity to remember, think, learn and reason. 

Besides all the sensory and texturizing properties, GA has interesting antioxidant properties such as an efficient capacity for deactivation of excited electronic states and moderated radical scavenging capacity. There is increasing experimental evidence that associate the antioxidant function with its protein fraction, mainly by amino acid residues such as histidine, tyrosine and lysine, which are generally considered as antioxidants molecules (Marcuse, 1960,1962 Park et al., 2005). 

Slaughter performance (important for butcher) slaughter yield, balanced carcass weight, composition of carcass Meat quality (important for consumer) measurable or sensory meat quality criteria (appearance, colour, tenderness, juiciness, flavour, roast and boil capacity, biochemical values (e.g. pH-value)), and nutritional value... 

The EEG does have some disadvantages, or, more correctly, some limitations. It cannot provide information about the effects of toxicants on the integrity of sensory receptors or of sensory or motor pathways. As a corollary, it cannot provide an assessment of the effects of toxicants on sensory system capacities. Finally, the EEG does not provide specific information at the cellular level and therefore lacks the rigor to provide detailed mechanisms of action. 

The nervous system consists of two main units the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which includes the body s system of nerves that control the muscles (motor function), the senses (the sensory nerves), and which are involved in other critical control functions. The individual units of the nervous system are the nerve cells, called neurons. Nenrons are a nniqne type of cell becanse they have the capacity to transmit electrical messages aronnd the body. Messages pass from one nenron to the next in a strnctnre called a synapse. Electric impnlses moving along a branch of the nenron called the axon reach the synapse (a space between nenrons) and canse the release of certain chemicals called neurotransmitters, one of which, acetylcholine, we described earlier in the chapter. These chemicals migrate to a nnit of the next nenron called the dendrites, where their presence canses the bnild-np of an electrical impnlse in the second nenron. 

The stress on enhanced experiencing as the fundamental characteristic of these substances leads, in the literature, to a stress on the importance of the setting in which the drug is taken. In order for the enhanced capacity for experience created by these substances to show itself, an adequate range of stimuli must first be available to be experienced. Administration of psychedelics under conditions of sensory deprivation seems to abolish... 

Earlier theories of attention such as that proposed by Broadbent (1958) suggested that some physical property of sensory stimuli dictates whether or not they are available to further processing (Fig. 1). Crucially Broadbent considered attention to be a real physical property of the nervous system, not a convenient psychological construct or metaphor. In this formulation early selection of stimuli is performed by a limited capacity filter and only selected stimuli are encoded. While this and similar models paved the way for experimental re-... 

In the periphery, Hi-receptors on sensory neurons in the epidermis and dermis mediate itch and pain, respectively. Autonomic afferent nerve endings may be similarly stimulated by histamine. As in the CNS, presynaptic Hj-receptors act in a feedback inhibitory capacity. 

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