Journey of a Sensation into Perception

Final Project: Peter V. Grabas7-20-14

What is learning?

❖ What is learning?Learning is what every mammal does to live, thrive, reproduce and teach. We are evolved to not only to remember what is

❖ Can anyone learn? Everyone can learn something new as long as their nervous system is not damaged or impaired. It just depends on focus and repetition.

❖ We learn all the time

How Do We Learn?How? We are still learning how, but a great deal is known. Your body

is designed for learning with millions to billions of parts that work like

an huge bureaucracy to filter information (sensation) to your brain

where it is turned into cognition (perception) or action. Here is a simple

example.

Think of an army (the nervous system). A group of soldiers (dendritic

arbor of a neuron) [think of this squad in a finger] discover a large hidden

cache of supplies. They call out this information (sensation) to their

sergeant (soma, main body of the neuron cell) who tells a runner (axon) to

go to their officer and relay it (synaptic transfer) to an higher officer (the

spinal column) [in charge of the arms-hands-fingers] whose job it is

to alert the generals in headquarters (the brain) where the information

will be examined (cerebellum), compared and shared (basal ganglia and

with many different parts of the brain) for cognition where the different

parts compare notes (generals in a meeting) and a decision is made

what to take action or not. The order is executed in reverse down a

different path to execute it (motor pathway). Its unknown if the mind is

in charge of, or is the group of generals. But they seem separate in close

cooperation. Whew! Now make this ‘army’ (the nervous system) into

almost a trillion individuals. That is what your brain and mind is using

to makes decisions.

A closer look at this ‘army’

sharp sensation

❖ There are about a trillion cells in the nervous system (blue)

❖ The body has about 40 trillion cells all totaled.

❖ The nerves in arms & legs are peripheral

How Does ‘Learning’ Work?

❖ It starts with sensation, your window to the world

❖ Continues with a sensation transfer

❖ Sensation enters the Brain

❖ Sensation is interpreted into perceptionInformation Processing: sorting, interpretation, comparison.

❖ Cognition & Response: Output and Storage

❖ Repeat forever

It Starts With a Sensationa sensation

❖ Sensation comes from the five senses1 Touch & Pressure2 Vision3 Auditory-hearing4 Olfactory-Smell5 Taste

❖ We will limit this example to touch

A Peripheral Neuron sharp sensation

❖ Close up of the finger skin and a neuron

Neuron parts

Finger skin

sharp sensation

Text

Dendritic Arbor

Sloan Cell with Nucleus

Synapse

Axon with Myelin sheaths

❖ Close up of the finger skin and a neuron

❖ The sensation (red) is a biochemical charge

Transfer Of The Sensation❖ The sensation reaches a Synapse

❖ Sensation causes a ‘bubble’ vesicle of neurotransmitters to open, release & transfer to a receptor continuing the sensation

Neurotransmitters

Axon with Myelin sheaths

Synapse

Synaptic Vesicles

A Receptor

❖ The neuron enters through the meninges into the spinal cord

❖ Biochemical charge causes cells to join the outer membrane & release transmitters

Neurotransmitters

Synapse

Spinal Cord

Transfer Of The Sensation

Neurotransmitters

Synapse

Spinal Cord

❖ The neuron enters through the meninges into the spinal cord

❖ Biochemical charge causes cells to join the outer membrane & release transmitters

Up the Spinal Cord

Synapse

❖ The sensation travels upinto the Brain Stem

❖ Brain Stem is the oldest in evolution -Autonomic & Motor functions

❖ Fore Brain has the higher functions -cognition

Into the Brain Stem

Spinal Cord

Brain Stem

Fore Brain

Brain Stem

❖ Spinal Cord enters through a hole in the base of the skull

❖ Turns into the Medulla Oblongata, up into the Hind Brain and Cerebellum, then Mid Brain and up into the Fore Brain

The Brain Stem

Spinal Cord

Fore Brain

❖ The sensation moves into the hind brain becoming a perception and into the center of the Cerebellum (Vernis & Para Vernis,

❖ Here in conjunction with the Basal Ganglia the sensation is processed

The Brain

Cerebellum (back of the head)

❖ There is a complex interplay with different parts of the brain.

❖ The cerebellum ‘chooses’ which sensation to send onto the fore brain. It send one out of about 40 sensations

❖ Comparisons are made, checked for accuracy. Optimum cerebellar use is automatic behavior.

The Brain Process

Sensation and Perception