Biology

Raul Farley

3 April, 09:01

Lateral inhibition occurs in most sensory systems. If a large area of the sensory periphery were stimulated in such a system (let's say the somatosensory system: this means a large area of the skin were stimulated), a) how would the rate of firing from a mechanoreceptor in the middle of the area compare to the firing of the same mechanoreceptor if a small spot in the middle of the area were stimulated? (Assume the small spot was large enough to just fill the center of the cell's receptive field.) b) Same scenario as in part (a) but now compare the firing rate of a second order sensory neuron (take into account lateral inhibition).