Neurophysiology of Sensory Systems

The term “sensory systems” is applied to those parts of the nervous system that receive signals from the environment and from the interior of the body, and conduct and process these signals. This chapter is a general introduction to the mode of operation of these sensory systems, relying chiefly upon examples taken from the somatosensory system (the cutaneous senses). The greatest emphasis is laid upon the objective, neurophysiologically measurable processes; the subjective perceptions and their psychophysical correlates have been discussed at some length in Chapter 1.