Clinical Neurophysiology Assignment
Week 7 Final Paper
For Week Seven, you will be using the material covered in your reading list and the APUS Library to develop a paper that explores one of the sensorimotor systems (e.g., vision, touch, taste, smell, or attention. You will not be allowed to use hearing as a topic as it was examined in the Week Two paper.) from a biopsychological perspective. Be sure to address the physiological (structure and function), as well as the psychological (cognitive-perceptual), underpinnings of the system. Use each item as a required subheading in your paper. Students should preview the grading rubric before beginning the assignment. Clinical Neurophysiology Assignment
The paper should include:
- Be a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 5 full pages, size 12 font Times New Roman, double spaced with 1 inch margins, NOT including the Title and References pages.
- A title page
- Include the sub headings of: “Physiological Underpinnings”, “Structure”, “Function” “Psychological Underpinnings”, “Cognitive-Perceptual”.
- 100-120 word abstract
- Introductory paragraph ending in a clear thesis statement
- Several well-developed (5-7 sentences) body paragraphs that explore the topic in detail
- A summary and conclusions paragraph
- Four references, three of which cannot be from the class readings.
Be sure to submit your project in one Word document in APA 7th ed. format and attach it below.
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Abstract
The human sensory system has five menses sense organs. The eye is one of these vital sensory organs. The visual system consists of the eye, retina, optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tracts, optic nuclei, and visual cortex. These organs are organized in a visual pathway such that the light enters the eye through the cornea, pupil, and lens before it is focused on the retina. The retina has photoreceptors in the form of cones and rods that transduce the light and color signals into action potentials that are picked up by the ganglion cells in the eternal ends of the optic nerve. The optic nerve relays the action potential signals to the thalamus and the visual cortex through the optic chiasm, tract, and optic nuclei. The visual system, therefore, transduces light and color signals into human sensory cognitive information. It participates in object and motion detection and recognition. This allows for knowledge, thinking, problem-solving, and planning. For example, in cases of threats in the environment. Clinical Neurophysiology Assignment
Introduction
The function of the sensory system is to perceive the surroundings to the brain for interaction and action. The visual system is one of the five sensory systems. The visual system enables us to perceive the surrounding in three dimensions including the color and depth of what we see (McDouall, 2021). The visual system consists of various components some of which are neural while others parts are found in the external sensory organ – the eye. The purpose of this paper is to describe the structural, functional, and cognitive-perceptual underpinnings of the visual system
Physiological Underpinnings – Structure
The visual system is divided into two parts: the sensory organ and the central nervous parts. The sensory part has the eye while the CNS part has the retina, the optic nerve, optic tract, and visual cortex. The eye has the cornea, pupil, iris, lens, vitreous and aqueous humor. Various muscles and ligaments attach to the eyeball and the lens and are useful during the adjustment of light and focusing of vision. The central nervous system part starts with the retina which has cones and rods, the optic nerve which is usually considered an extension of the brain, the optic chiasm where the two optic nerves intersect and move to contralateral, and proceed as optic tract through the optic nuclei in the thalamus before leading to the occipital cortex containing the visual cortex (Huff et al., 2021). the visual system, especially the sensory part, is supplied with arteries, veins, and nerves. The visual system is not an independent system thus it is supported by other systems such as the autonomic nervous system through other cranial nerves to coordinate its function properly. The extraocular muscles regulate and position the eye to focus the vision on specific objects. The autonomic nervous system regulates the size of pupils through pupillary constriction and dilation to determine the amount of light allowed to the retina. Clinical Neurophysiology Assignment
Physiological Underpinnings – Function
The visual system serves to perceive light and color for interpretation by the brain. Various objects reflect different intensities and wavelengths of light to the eye. The light first passes theory the cornea and pupil where the amount is regulated as it gets magnified by the lens to land on the retina which contains photoreceptors. The retina which has cones and rods for the reception of light is to the optic nerve which contains ganglion cells (de Nava et al., 2022). At this point of reception, an action potential is created that is transported through the optic nerve the intracranial visual system pathways to the cortex for processing (Gupta et al., 2022). The visual system helps the brain orientate the environment visually in radial, vertical, and horizontal planes (Benson et al., 2021). It provides the sensory system with the physical location of objects around as well as their physical visible properties (Huff et al., 2021). This system enables the brain to perceive and coordinate movement alongside other sensory systems. Therefore, it can participate in the perception of balance and proprioception and this explains the neurophysiological modulation in the correlations between the visual system and movement problems (Sabel et al., 2020). In sum, the visual system’s main role is phototransduction enabling the perception of physical objects’ properties and their movement.
Psychological Underpinnings – Cognitive/Perceptual
The visual system provides the sensory system with the mental construct of the surrounding through orientating the spatial 3D relationships and positions of the visible objects. Therefore, this system enables the individual to navigate through their surrounding (McDouall, 2021). Cognitively, the visual system helps in object detection, object recognition, motion detection, and motion recognition thus it helps in attention and visual awareness (Sabel et al., 2020). This awareness is also coordinated with other sensory systems. The aforementioned system functions are not solely reserved for the visual system. Detention and recognition of objects and motion have also been demonstrated in other systems such as auditory and vestibular systems. The coordination between the visual system and the auditory and vestibular system enables coordination of balance and movement. In the absence or impairment of the visual perception of 3D spatial awareness of the surrounding, the audio-vestibular system takes over the awareness of the function. Visual system problems have also been seen in individuals with dyslexia and auditory system dysfunctions (Levin & Chauvel, 2019). The auditory cortex also takes over the function of object and motion recognition and detention in most cases when the visual system is impaired, especially when the brain has adequate plasticity. Clinical Neurophysiology Assignment
Interpretation of the signals from the visual system by the brain enables the individual to build their language, knowledge, thinking, problem-solving and planning. Object recognition helps the brain execute higher executive functions such as thinking, knowledge, memory, and problem-solving. The ability to read and write is enhanced by the proper vision that is interpreted and stored in the memory. Detection and recognition of the threats in the surroundings are better when the individual can interpret the signals from the visual system and activate necessary defense mechanisms.
Conclusions
The visual system is not a stand-alone system and coordinates with other sensory systems to ensure the holistic perception of the surrounding. This system has the sensory part and the intracranial section which forms part of the central nervous system. The major role in the perception of light and color is that enables the individual to perceive objects and motion in the surrounding. The cognitive-perceptual function of this system relies greatly on its ability to perceive motion and objects. This perception is necessary for the brain to carry out most of its executive functioning of brain such as knowledge, thinking, memory, problem-solving, and planning. The visual system also coordinates with other systems such as the auditory system to coordinate these functions. Clinical Neurophysiology Assignment
References
Benson, N. C., Kupers, E. R., Barbot, A., Carrasco, M., & Winawer, J. (2021). Cortical magnification in the human visual cortex parallels task performance around the visual field. ELife, 10, e67685. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.67685
de Nava, A. S. L., Somani, A. N., & Salini, B. (2022). Physiology, Vision. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538493/
Gupta, M., Ireland, A. C., & Bordoni, B. (2022). Neuroanatomy, Visual Pathway. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31985982/
Huff, T., Mahabadi, N., & Tadi, P. (2021). Neuroanatomy, Visual Cortex. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482504/
Levin, K. H., & Chauvel, P. (2019). Clinical neurophysiology: Basis and technical aspects: Volume 160: Handbook of clinical neurology series. Elsevier Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/c2016-0-03441-1
McDouall, J. (2021). The visual system. An Introduction to Psychology. Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. https://openeducationalberta.ca/saitintropsychology/chapter/the-visual-system/
Sabel, B. A., Thut, G., Haueisen, J., Henrich-Noack, P., Herrmann, C. S., Hunold, A., Kammer, T., Matteo, B., Sergeeva, E. G., Waleszczyk, W., & Antal, A. (2020). Vision modulation, plasticity, and restoration using non-invasive brain stimulation – An IFCN-sponsored review. Clinical Neurophysiology: Official Journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, 131(4), 887–911 Clinical Neurophysiology Assignment
