When you get home, you smell cookies baking. You respond by walking toward the kitchen. Many signals move through your nervous system in this process. Which component is involved first?
axons in your motor neurons
dendrites in your motor neurons
dendrites in your sensory neurons
axons in your sensory neurons
Dendrites in your sensory neurons are involved first in this process.
The correct answer is: dendrites in your sensory neurons.
When you get home and smell cookies baking, the first component involved in the process is the dendrites in your sensory neurons. These dendrites receive signals from your olfactory receptors in the nose, which detect the smell of the cookies. The signals are then passed onto the axons of the sensory neurons, which transmit the information to the brain for processing and interpretation.
The component involved first when you smell cookies baking and respond by walking toward the kitchen is the dendrites in your sensory neurons.
To understand why, let's break down the process:
1. When you walk into your home and smell the cookies baking, the scent molecules from the cookies travel through the air and enter your nose.
2. Inside your nose, there are specialized cells called sensory neurons that have dendrites. These dendrites have receptor molecules that can detect and bind to specific odor molecules from the cookies.
3. Once the receptor molecules on the dendrites of the sensory neurons recognize the odor molecules, they generate electrical signals.
4. These electrical signals, known as action potentials, are then transmitted from the dendrites to the cell body of the sensory neuron.
5. From the cell body, the action potentials are propagated along the axon of the sensory neuron.
6. The axon transmits the electrical signals to the central nervous system, specifically to the brain.
7. In the brain, the electrical signals are interpreted and processed, leading to the perception of the smell of cookies baking.
8. As a result of this perception, you respond by walking toward the kitchen to investigate further.
In summary, the dendrites in your sensory neurons are the first component involved in detecting the smell of cookies baking and initiating the transmission of electrical signals to your brain, which ultimately leads to your response of walking toward the kitchen.