Sense Organ Mechanisms

Abstract

Sense organs, or sensory receptors, form the interface between the animal’s environment and its nervous system. This interface is with both the internal and external environments and it is the function of the sense organs to monitor these environments. The limits of sensitivity of an organism to its environment are set by the sensitivities of the various sense organs, and the nervous system works within these limits. In addition to the role of monitoring the environment, a sense organ must either directly or indirectly convert an energy change (or energy level) into a form which the nervous system can handle. That is, sense organs transduce energy from one form to another and specifically into a form that can influence neurons. As we shall see, the transduction process results in a receptor potential in the sensory receptor cell.