The Special Sense Organs and Their Disorders
Walter F. Stanaszek, Mary J. Stanaszek, Robert J. Holt, Steven Strauss in Understanding Medical Terms, 2020
Hair cells, arranged in clusters called hair bundles, are specialized receptor cells of the vestibular sense organs. These hair cells convert a mechanical force into an electrical signal that is sent into the brain via the vestibular nerve. Statoconia, also called otoconia because of their location (oto- = ear), are calcium carbonate crystals in the inner ear that respond to gravity and cause the hair cells to stimulate the nerve fibers and eventually produce posture changes, keeping the person erect (stato- = standing).
PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS OF CHINESE MEDICINE FROM A CHINESE MEDICINE ACADEMICIAN
Kevin Chan, Henry Lee in The Way Forward for Chinese Medicine, 2001
In CM, this method is chiefly used in the formation of the theories of visceral manifestation and pathogenesis, as well as ascertaining the syndrome through differentiating symptoms and signs. Accordingly, the internal organs are linked closely with the external tissues on the body surface such as the five sense organs, and the nine orifices, etc. mainly through the Meridians, Qi and blood. The functional states of the Zangfu Viscera can be detected by observing and analyzing the external manifestations. This theory also points out that any changes in locality would reflect, to some extent, the information of the locality and integrity. On this basis, CM formulates its diagnosis and treatment, and creates many unique guidelines for doing so. The "Five facial colour diagnosis", "tongue diagnosis", "pulse diagnosis", "ear diagnosis", etc., are all designed to deduce the internal reaction status based on the external local changes. The internal pathological changes could thus be detected externally.
The nature and types of assessment
Chambers Mary in Psychiatric and mental health nursing, 2017
When we observe, we use all of our senses, our vision, our hearing, our sense of smell and sometimes even our sense of touch. The use of observation skills is practised across all the nursing disciplines. In the field of mental health we observe people’s behaviour, including both their physical and verbal behaviour, to enable us to make inferences about their mental well-being. However, these observations tell us little unless they also take into account the context within which the person is acting.3 This is especially true of people from different cultural backgrounds that may, for example, have a totally different way of expressing their distress or of explaining unusual sensory experiences such as auditory hallucinations. If we ignore or do not try to understand these differences when assessing their behaviour, we may make very poor judgements that may have very damaging consequences for the individual.4
Every nano-step counts: a critical reflection on do’s and don’ts in researching nanomedicines for retinal gene therapy
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2023
Karen Peynshaert, Joke Devoldere, Stefaan De Smedt, Katrien Remaut
Our eyes are wonderful sense organs of unimaginable complexity that grant us vision. They allow us to appreciate the world’s beauty, to sense danger, and to support our emotional communication through eye contact. Seeing the fundamental role vision plays in our existence, its loss has an immense impact on a person’s life. Sadly, at this moment vision impairment affects nearly 300 million people worldwide, of which an estimated 43 million are effectively blind[1]. While there is a plethora of diseases – both inherited and acquired – which result in vision loss, the majority of blinding diseases originate within the retina, a sensory layer that lines the inner surface of the back of the eye. In light of this, a vast amount of research in the last decades has been dedicated to deciphering the biology and biochemistry of the retina along with identification of blinding gene mutations, disease pathogeneses and treatment strategies.
The vision of Helmholtz
Published in Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 2021
The passage of the Handbuch through its various editions reflected Helmholtz’s move away from physiological optics toward physics as he progressed from Königsberg to Berlin via Bonn and Heidelberg. Vision was examined progressively with regard to the physics of the stimulus, the physiology of the sense organs, and the psychology of perception. These divisions are represented in the three parts of the Handbuch, which were published separately in 1856, 1860, and 1866. In 1867, they were published together in Gustav Karsten’s Allgemeine Encyklopädie der Physik, with supplements added by Helmholtz. It was translated into French in the same year (Helmholtz 1867b). Despite the impact the Handbuch has had on visual science, its history over the three German editions and its translation into English were not straightforward; the title pages of the three editions and the English translation are shown in Figure 3. With publication in a single volume, in 1867, Helmholtz virtually ceased his active involvement in sensory physiology. In 1869 he wrote: For the time being I have laid physiological optics and psychology aside. I found that so much philosophizing led to a certain demoralization, and made one’s thought lax and vague; I must discipline myself awhile by experiment and mathematics, and then come back later to the Theory of Perception. (Koenigsberger 1906, 266)
Evaluation of the NAL Dynamic Conversations Test in older listeners with hearing loss
Published in International Journal of Audiology, 2018
Virginia Best, Gitte Keidser, Katrina Freeston, Jörg M. Buchholz
Kiessling et al. (e.g. 2003) put forward a useful terminology to describe the hierarchy of auditory functions relevant to people in their daily lives. They distinguish hearing, a passive function by which we sense sounds and their properties, from listening, which is hearing with intention and attention. They then define extensions of hearing and listening in which information moves unidirectionally (comprehending) or bidirectionally (communication). In the same paper, Kiessling et al. also consider how hearing loss and other consequences of aging affect this cascade from hearing to communication. It is clear that deficits in the peripheral auditory system affect hearing, which can in turn make listening more difficult, and ultimately impair comprehension and communication. In addition, more central deficits may directly affect one’s ability to listen selectively, assign meaning to speech in a limited time frame, or integrate the many cues provided by a conversational partner that enable smooth communication.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Cognition
- Hearing
- Perception
- Somatosensory System
- Taste
- Transduction
- Visual Perception
- Stimulus
- Sense of Smell
- Thought