AUDITORY & PSYCHOPATHY ➔ Associated with Conversion Disorder/Functional

Auditory System Neurological Symptom Disorder

➔ Plays a crucial role in perception of sound ◆ Conversion Disorder - causes physical symptoms that
➔ Comprises of various structures within the ear and neural mimic a neurological condition; a change in how the
pathways that transmit auditory information to the brain body functions when no causative physical or
➔ Any disruptions or abnormalities in this system can have physiological malfunctioning can be found; the brain
implications for psychological well-being chooses to remove one sense than facing a stressful
SCHIZOPHRENIA event
➔ Person’s lack to determine what is real ◆ Derealization - a feeling that the world is unreal or
➔ Result of abnormal activity of the prefrontal lobe odd
➔ Severe mental disorder characterized by hallucinations, ◆ Depersonalization - a sense of being cut off or
delusions, disorganized thinking, and impaired social detached from oneself
functioning ◆ Both Derealization and Depersonalization may be from
➔ Auditory hallucinations where individuals hear voices or trauma
other sounds when no external stimulus is present are a DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY DISORDERS
hallmark symptom ➔ Can be influenced by auditory stimuli and experiences
➔ Auditory, Visual, and Taste hallucination are believed to ➔ Depression may exhibit hypersensitivity to negative
arise from abnormalities in the brain’s auditory auditory cues
processing regions and their interactions with higher ➔ Depression can have psychotic issues (Major Depressive
cognitive functions, contributing to the disorder’s Disorder)
psychological manifestations ➔ Depression is not only about increased level of sadness,
◆ Taste hallucination - water tastes somewhat metallic but it is also lack of pleasure
◆ External Stimulus - soundwaves coming from the ➔ Depression is depriving themselves from the things they
compression of the three tiny bones [stirrup, anvil, enjoy before
hammer] to the papalia from the tympanic membrane ◆ Anyone can experience depression, but prolonged
◆ Schizophrenia Spectrum - individuals who do not period should be clinical
meet the full criteria of Schizophrenia ◆ The senses intricately linked to psychological
◆ Attenuated Schizophrenia - lighter version of processes and disorders
Schizophrenia ◆ Anhedonia - related to depression; inability to
◆ Vertigo - may manifest if snot is clogged, giving a experience pleasure
roller-coaster feeling and may lose balance. EATING DISORDER
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER ➔ Altered perception of food-related smells
➔ Formerly known as “Shell Shock” or “Battle Fatigue” ➔ Distorted olfactory perception can also be linked to
➔ Can develop after exposure to traumatic events eating disorder, such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia
➔ Associated with a range of symptoms Nervosa
◆ Intrusive memories ➔ Similar to Autism Spectrum Disorder (hypersensitivity to
◆ Avoidance behaviors texture)
◆ Negative moods
◆ Heightened arousal SENSATION
➔ Auditory triggers, such as loud noises resembling those ➔ Activation of special receptors in various sense organs
experienced during the traumatic event, can elicit strong ◆ Specialized Cell - specialized forms of neurons that
emotional reactions and exacerbate symptoms in have specific stimuli
➔ The auditory system’s roles in encoding and retrieving ◆ Law of Specific Nerve Energies - the brain interprets
traumatic memories contributes to its association with any activity of a given sensory neuron as representing a
the disorder particular type of sensory information
 Absolute Threshold a. Red-eye Effect - the blood vessel can be seen
➔ Least energy for correct stimulus detection 50% of the 4. Cornea - bends light waves so the image can be focused
time on the retina
➔ Able to consciously be aware of the stimuli a. Cataract - a disease associated with diabetes; covers
◆ Vision: seeing a candle the cornea, making it hard to see
◆ Touch: feeling the mosquito 5. Photoreceptors - AKA Fisherman’s net; part of the eye
◆ Hear: clock or watch ticking that catches the light (rods, cones)
◆ Smell: perfume fragrance 6. Vitreous Humor - gel-like substance that is responsible
◆ Taste: sugar for the shape of the eye
Just Noticeable Difference a. Myopia - near-sightedness due to long eyes
➔ Smallest difference detection 50% of the time (at least be b. Hyperopia - far-sightedness due to short eyes
able to detect 20%) 7. Pupil - opens/closes depending on the source of light
Subliminal Perception: Stimuli 8. The Back
➔ Just below the level of conscious awareness a. Light passes through ganglion and bipolar cells
➔ Activated but not totally aware b. Stimulates rods and cones
◆ Example: the more you watch a commercial or hear a c. Travel along a nerve pathway to the brain
jingle, the more you are encouraged to buy 9. Opticiasm - midpart
Habituation Abnormal or high activity of the brain causes visual
➔ The brain stops attending to constant unchanging stimuli hallucination
[Cognitive] RODS IN PERIPHERY
➔ Consistent stimuli will stop the brain to attend to it Dark Adaptation - recover sensitivity in the dark after
Sensory Adaptation exposure to bright lights
➔ Sensory receptors are less responsive to constant stimuli Light Adaptation - recover sensitivity in the bright light
[Biological] after exposure to darkness
Visible Spectrum Trichromatic Theory
➔ Segment of the electromagnetic spectrum that the human ➔ Able to discriminate among wavelengths by the ratio of
eye can view activity across the three types of cones [Blue, Green, Red]
➔ The higher the wavelength, the more it is easier to see Opponent-Process Theory
➔ After-images become the negative color
➔ We perceive color in terms of opposites (Hurvich &
Jameson, 1957)
➔ Have four primary colors with cones arranged in pairs

HEARING
Soundwaves - periodic compressions of water, air, or
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF LIGHT
other media; varies in amplitude and frequency
1. Brightness - corresponds to amplitude of light waves
Frequency - cycle or waves per second; unit: Hertz (Hz)
(dimlight)
THREE ASPECTS OF SOUND
2. Color - length of lightwaves
Pitch - characterized by highness or lowness of frequency;
3. Saturation
frequency=pitch
STRUCTURE OF THE EYE
Amplitude - intensity; unit: Decibels
1. Cones - visual acuity; abundant in and near the fovea
2. Fovea/Pit - high concentration of the receptor cones;
doesn’t work at night
3. Blindspot - the nerve pathway; it doesn’t have receptors
 ➔ Beyond 4000 Hz cannot keep pace with the sound waves.
HEARING IMPAIRMENTS
Conduction - damaged eardrum
Tinnitus - ringing in the ear
Cochlear Implant - a device that improves hearing loss
by stimulating the cochlear nerve with electrodes
CHEMICAL SENSES
Taste (Gustatory)
Taste Buds - receptors in the tongue; lie along the edge of
tongue for adult humans
Timbre(TAM-ber) - richness in the tone of the sound;
Papillae - location of the mammalian taste
tone quality or tone complexity
receptors
❖ Noise can affect stress, learning aggression, and other
5 basic tastes
aspects of psychology
1. Salty
❖ White noise - contains many frequencies with equal
2. Sour
intensities; not harmful unless spent listening for too long
3. Sweet
(max. 2 hours)
4. Bitter
Otolith
5. Umami (brothy/richness)
➔ Located in the semicircular canals in the ear
Smell (Olfactory)
➔ It pushes the hair cells to excite them, telling the brain
➔ Similar design with taste
which direction it is moving or the direction of the head
➔ Response to chemicals that contact the membranes inside
when tilted while at rest
the nose
◆ Sometimes, when it cannot keep up with the movements,
Olfactory Cells - neurons responsible for smell; line the
it causes motion sickness
olfactory epithelium in the rear of the nasal air passages
THEORIES OF PITCH
Somesthetic Senses
Place Theory
Skin Senses - touch, pressure, temperature, pain
➔ Each frequency activates the hair cells at only one place
Kinesthetic Senses - body location
along the basilar membrane, and the nervous system
Vestibular Senses - body movement or position
distinguishes among frequencies based on which neurons
Somatosensory System
respond
➔ Sensation of the body and its movements, is not one sense
➔ Downfall: various parts of the basilar membrane are bound
but many, inclusive discriminative touch (which identifies
together too tightly for any part to resonate like a piano
the shape of an object), deep pressure, cold, warmth, pain,
string
itch, tickle, and the position and movement of joints
Frequency Theory
Pacinian Corpuscle - detect vibrations or sudden
➔ The basilar membrane vibrates in synchrony with a sound,
displacements on the skin
causing auditory nerve axons to produce action potentials
Neuron Membrane - onion-like outer structure that
at the same frequency.
provides mechanical support that resists gradual or
➔ Downfall: the refractory period of a neuron, though
constant pressure
variable among neurons, is typically about 1/1000 second,
CROSS-SECTION OF THE SKIN AND ITS
so the maximum firing rate of a neuron is about 1000 Hz,
RECEPTORS
far short of the highest frequencies we hear.
❖ Perception of pain is important for survival
Volley Theory/Principle
❖ Gate Control Theory - must pass through a “gate”
➔ The auditory nerve as a whole produces volleys of
located in the spinal cord to get to the brain
impulses for sounds up to about 4000 Hz per second, even
though no individual axon approaches that frequency.