15.1: Sensory System Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Apply the rules of medical language to build, analyze, spell, pronounce, abbreviate, and define terms as they relate to the sensory system
- Identify meanings of key word components of the sensory system
- Categorize diagnostic, therapeutic, procedural, or anatomic terms related to the sensory system
- Use terms related to the sensory system
- Use terms related to the diseases and disorders of the sensory system
Introduction to the Sensory Systems
Most people consider the five major senses to be taste, smell, touch, hearing, and sight. These are referred to as the “special senses” because they have organs devoted to the senses, such as the eye, ear, tongue, and nose.
This chapter will review common word components related to the systems of special senses to assist learners in analyzing, building, and defining medical terms. Other terms, whose definitions cannot be easily built from word components, will be described in context based on the anatomy and physiology of sensory systems and common diseases and disorders. Medical specialists, diagnostic tests, and procedures related to sensory systems will also be discussed.