Introduction: Special senses are the senses that have organs specifically devoted to experiencing them and include vision, gustation, olfaction, hearing, and equilibrium. Each of these specialized organs detects and processes certain stimulus and send a signal to the brain which leads to the perception of that stimulus. In this post, students should pick a sensory sensor cell and address the following:
- Describe what part does a chosen sensory cell play in the larger sensory organ. What is its contribution to the special sense?
- What is the function of a chosen sensory cell?
- Identify how it is stimulated?
- Identify the specific consequences to the sensory cell and to the overall sensory organ and body if a chosen sensory cell is damaged or diseased.
- Are there treatments to improve the condition (e.g. hearing aids). If so, provide details.
- Discuss any technological advancements that are exciting and novel? For example, certain ring tones now vibrate at high pitches that only people under 30 can hear because as one ages, there is a loss of hair cells that can pick up those sounds.
- Lastly, please answer what happens to the sensory cells and special sense you chose as part of the normal aging process.
