This lesson will give you an overview of special senses.

We will focus on
discussing the eyes
and ears.
The wall of the eyeball is composed of an outer fibrous layer including the sclera
and
cornea.
The middle vascular consists of choroid, ciliary body and iris and
An inner layer composed of the retina.
The optical components of the eye refract light rays and focus the images on the
retina.
They include the cornea, lens, vitreous body and aqueous humor.
The light is refracted mainly by the cornea,
While the lens, which is held by suspensory ligament, makes adjustment such that
the light
falls on the retina.
The retina and optic nerve are the neural components of the eye. They absorb light
and
encode the stimulus and conduct the action potentials to the brain.
The most finely detailed image occurs in the fovea centralis, while blind spot,
where the
optic nerve originates, contains no receptor cells.
Light falling on the retina is absorbed by photoreceptors in the retina.
The signals then travel along the optic nerves.
Fibers of the optic nerves hemi decussate at the optic chiasm, such that the left
visual
field projected from the eyes will reach the right cerebral hemisphere, and images
on the
right will project to the left hemisphere.
Beyond the optic chiasm, the nerve fibers continue as optic tracts and mainly end
in
the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus.
The signals will then be transmitted to the primary visual cortex of the occipital
lobe
via projection fibers. Some optic nerve fibers from the photosensory
ganglion cells will lead to superior colliculi and the midbrain.
These midbrain nuclei control visual reflexes of the extrinsic eye muscles,
pupillary reflexes
and accommodation of the lens.
There are six extrinsic muscles attached to the walls of the orbit. They include
four
rectus muscles and two oblique muscles.
The superior, inferior, medial and lateral rectus move the eye up, down, medially
and
laterally.
The superior oblique pull the eyes inferiorly and laterally while the inferior
oblique pull
the eyes superiorly and laterally.
The lateral rectus muscles are innervated by the sixth cranial nerves whereas
The superior oblique muscles are innervated by the fourth cranial nerves.
The rest of the extrinsic eyes muscles are innervated by the third cranial nerve.
Now, we shift our focus to the anatomy of the ear.
The ear is divided into three sections: the outer, middle, and inner ears.
The outer ear consists of the auricle and auditory canal.
The middle ear consists of the tympanic membrane, auditory tube, oval window and
auditory ossicles
and two muscles.
In the inner ear, we can find the bony labyrinth.
The bony labyrinth contains tubes called the membranous labyrinth. The fluid in
this labyrinth
is called endolymph. Between the membranous labyrinth and bone is another liquid
called
perilymph.
The cochlea contains the cochlear duct. The cochlear duct contains the spiral
organ.
This is the structure that generates auditory nerve signals.
The spiral organ of the cochlea is thus the organ of hearing.
The vestibular apparatus consists of inner ear structures.
The saccule and utricle, each with a macula, containing sensory hair cells. Any
orientation
of the head stimulates the maculae, sending signals to the brain that enable it to
sense
the orientation.
Macula sacculi will be stimulated by vertical acceleration while macula utericuli
will be
stimulated by horizontal acceleration.
There are three semicircular ducts with a sensory patch of hair cells called the
crista
ampullaris. Tilting or rotation of the head moves the
ducts relative to the endolymph, pushing the cupula and stimulate the hair cells.
All the signals from the utricle, saccule and semicircular ducts travel through the
vestibular nerve, which joins the cochlear nerve to the cerebellum andvestibular
nuclei
on each side of the pons and medulla. Thus, we are able to be aware of spatial
orientation
and movement, produce compensatory eye movements and coordinate our body parts.