14: Human Senses

Students explain the biochemical basis of taste, smell, hearing, sight, and touch perception.

LibreTexts reference: Unit 4, Chapter 1: Biochemistry of Our Senses

Matching Sensory Modalities to Receptor Cell Types

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Match each of the following sensory modalities with their corresponding primary receptor cell types.
Note: Each choice will be used exactly once.

	Your Choice	Prompt
	Drop Your Choice Here	1. Touch (pressure, vibration)
	Drop Your Choice Here	2. Balance (vestibular)
	Drop Your Choice Here	3. Smell (olfaction)
	Drop Your Choice Here	4. Taste (gustation)
	Drop Your Choice Here	5. Vision

Drag one of the choices below:

• A. Photoreceptors (rods and cones)
• B. Olfactory sensory neurons (chemoreceptors; odorant receptors are GPCRs)
• C. Taste receptor cells in taste buds (chemoreceptors)
• D. Vestibular hair cells (mechanoreceptors)
• E. Cutaneous mechanoreceptors (many types; pressure and vibration)

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Matching Sensory Signal Transduction Components to Functions

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Match each of the following sensory transduction components with their corresponding functions in signaling.
Note: Each choice will be used exactly once.

	Your Choice	Prompt
	Drop Your Choice Here	1. Rhodopsin
	Drop Your Choice Here	2. Gustducin
	Drop Your Choice Here	3. IP3
	Drop Your Choice Here	4. Adenylyl cyclase (AC3)
	Drop Your Choice Here	5. cAMP
	Drop Your Choice Here	6. TRPM5
	Drop Your Choice Here	7. Golf
	Drop Your Choice Here	8. Olfactory receptor (GPCR)

Drag one of the choices below:

• A. Diffusible messenger that raises cytosolic Ca²⁺ in taste cells
• B. Receptor that binds odorants and activates G proteins
• C. Cation channel activated downstream of Ca²⁺ signaling in taste cells
• D. G protein coupling olfactory receptors to cAMP signaling
• E. Taste G protein used in bitter and sweet pathways
• F. ATP-to-cAMP enzyme downstream of G_olf
• G. Photopigment that starts rod phototransduction
• H. Signaling molecule that helps open olfactory CNG channels

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Matching Taste Qualities to Stimuli

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Match each of the following taste qualities with their corresponding stimuli.
Note: Each choice will be used exactly once.

	Your Choice	Prompt
	Drop Your Choice Here	1. Bitter
	Drop Your Choice Here	2. Sweet
	Drop Your Choice Here	3. Umami
	Drop Your Choice Here	4. Sour

Drag one of the choices below:

• A. plant defensive toxins, often alkaloids, that deter herbivores
• B. a protein hydrolysis product that increases free glutamate
• C. increased H₃O⁺ concentration in an acidic solution
• D. simple saccharides commonly used as cellular energy sources

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True/False Statements About Chemosensation (Smell and Taste)

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Which one of the following statements is FALSE concerning chemosensation (smell and taste)?

• A. Signal amplification can occur when one activated receptor leads to many downstream second messengers.
• B. Sour tastants are associated with low pH and increased proton concentration.
• C. Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases reduce signaling by hydrolyzing cyclic nucleotides.
• D. Taste transduction bypasses synapses and directly activates the cortex.
• E. Odorant binding can lead to G_olf activation and increased cAMP production.

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True/False Statements About Sensory Coding (Smell vs. Taste)

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Which one of the following statements is TRUE concerning sensory coding principles (smell vs taste)?

• A. Odor identity is determined mainly by odorant concentration, NOT by receptor activation patterns.
• B. Each olfactory sensory neuron expresses many different olfactory receptor genes at the same time.
• C. Bitter taste is often encoded as an aversive category rather than many distinct bitter identities.
• D. Smell uses only a small set of receptors, so most odorants activate the same receptor.
• E. Olfactory signals are mixed into a single channel before the brain, which prevents odor discrimination.

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True/False Statements About Vision and Hearing Transduction

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Which one of the following statements is TRUE concerning vision and hearing transduction?

• A. phosphodiesterase (PDE) terminates signals by producing cGMP in the outer segment.
• B. Cones are more sensitive to dim light than rods.
• C. Hearing relies mainly on GPCR signaling cascades that take seconds to operate.
• D. Dark current is produced by closing CNG channels in rod outer segments.
• E. Photon absorption changes retinal shape and activates rhodopsin.

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Receptor Cell Types from Sensory Modalities

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Which one of the following sensory modalities correspond to the primary receptor cell type 'Olfactory sensory neurons that detect odorant molecules'.

• A. Balance (vestibular)
• B. Smell (olfaction)
• C. Taste (gustation)
• D. Touch (pressure, vibration)
• E. Vision

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Sensory Signal Transduction Components from Functional Descriptions

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Which one of the following sensory transduction components correspond to the function in signaling 'Channel that helps depolarize taste receptor cells after GPCR activation'.

• A. Adenylyl cyclase (AC3)
• B. Gustducin
• C. IP₃
• D. Mechanotransduction channel (hair cell MET channel)
• E. Olfactory receptor (GPCR)
• F. Phosphodiesterase 6 (PDE6)
• G. TRPM5
• H. cGMP

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Taste Qualities from Stimuli

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Which one of the following taste qualities correspond to the stimulus 'a monosaccharide such as glucose, a common fuel for glycolysis'.

• A. Bitter
• B. Salty
• C. Sweet
• D. Umami

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