Sensory Perception

Terms and Structure

Sensory perception occurs in organisms capable of performing neurophysiological processing of the stimuli in their environment, and covers the processes commonly called "the senses": hearing, vision, taste, smell and so on. Sensory perception involves detection of the stimulus and subsequent recognition and characterization of it. There are five different stimulus types involved in sensory processing - chemical, mechanical, electrical, light and temperature.

  • neurophysiological process
    • [i] sensory perception
      • [p] detection of stimulus during sensory perception
        • [i] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception
        • [i] detection of electrical stimulus during sensory perception
        • [etc.]
      • [i] sensory perception of chemical stimulus
        • [p] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception
      • [i] sensory perception of electrical stimulus
        • [p] detection of electrical stimulus during sensory perception
      • [etc.]
The (known) senses are represented as processes underneath sensory perception. Most are worded sensory perception of [stimulus modality], e.g. sensory perception of sound, sensory perception of touch, although some have more common names, such as visual perception or electroception.

A combination of stimuli may be used by some of the senses; for example, sensory perception of pain may come from temperature, mechanical, electrical or chemical stimuli. Similarly, stimuli of a certain type may be perceived by different senses: e.g. both sense of smell and taste use chemical stimuli. The structure is as follows:

  • sensory perception
    • [i] sensory perception of chemical stimulus
      • [i] sensory perception of smell
        • [p] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception of smell
      • [i] sensory perception of taste
        • [p] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception of taste
      • [p] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception
        • [i] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception of smell
        • [i] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception of taste
        • [i] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception of pain
...
  • [i] sensory perception of pain
    • [p] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception of pain
    • [p] detection of electrical stimulus during sensory perception of pain
    • [p] detection of mechanical stimulus during sensory perception of pain
    • [p] detection of temperature stimulus during sensory perception of pain
This structure is also repeated under the response to stimulus node:
  • response to stimulus
    • [i] detection of stimulus
      • [i] detection of chemical stimulus
        • [i] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception
          • [i] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception of smell
          • [i] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception of taste
      • [i] detection of stimulus during sensory perception
        • [i] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception
...
  • [i] sensory perception
    • [p] detection of stimulus during sensory perception
      • [i] detection of chemical stimulus during sensory perception
  • [etc.]

sensory perception of xxx may have the exact synonym perception of xxx.

Standard Definitions

sensory perception
The series of events required for an organism to receive a sensory stimulus, convert it to a molecular signal, and recognize and characterize the signal.
sensory perception of [stimulus type] stimulus
The series of events required for an organism to receive a [stimulus type] stimulus, convert it to a molecular signal, and recognize and characterize the signal.
detection of [stimulus type] stimulus during sensory perception of [sensory modality]
The series of events during the perception of [sensory modality] in which a [stimulus type] stimulus is received and converted to a molecular signal.
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