There is quite a variety of structures throughout the body whose function is to detect stimuli of different types and have that stimulus initiate a nerve impulse for transmission back to the CNS. Many such sensory receptors are little more than bare, unmyelinated axon endings and are usually not visible histologically. Others are more complex and are associated with CT or cellular structures. Some of these more complex sensory strictures will be studied here. Physiologically these receptors can be considered as chemoreceptors or mechanoreceptors.

Objectives

• Recognize taste buds on lingual papillae and understand how their structure facilitates taste perception.
• Recognize Meissner’s and Pacinian corpuscles in the skin.
• Identify olfactory epithelium and understand its function.
• Learn the general structure of the organ of Corti in the inner ear and the roles of its structural components in hearing

The examples to be studied here are "mechanoreceptors" consisting of thin layers of connective tissue around sensory axons.

Know the histological differences and functions of these structures.

Next comes several specialized sensory organs.