receptor

Noun
  1. A cellular structure that is postulated to exist in order to mediate between a chemical agent that acts on nervous tissue and the physiological response (synset 105616623)
    is a type of: anatomical structure, bodily structure, body structure, complex body part, structure - a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing and its construction and arrangement
    subtypes:
    • alpha receptor, alpha-adrenergic receptor, alpha-adrenoceptor - receptors postulated to exist on nerve cell membranes of the sympathetic nervous system in order to explain the specificity of certain agents that affect only some sympathetic activities (such as vasoconstriction and relaxation of intestinal muscles and contraction of smooth muscles)
    • beta receptor, beta-adrenergic receptor, beta-adrenoceptor - receptors postulated to exist on nerve cell membranes of the sympathetic nervous system in order to explain the specificity of certain agents that affect only some sympathetic activities (such as vasodilation and increased heart beat)
  2. An organ having nerve endings (in the skin or viscera or eye or ear or nose or mouth) that respond to stimulation (synset 105306677)
    is a type of: organ - a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
    subtypes:
    • lateral line, lateral line organ - sense organs of fish and amphibians; believed to detect pressure changes in the water
    • enteroceptor, interoceptor - any receptor that responds to stimuli inside the body
    • exteroceptor - any receptor that responds to stimuli outside the body
    • pineal eye, third eye - a sensory structure capable of light reception located on the dorsal side of the diencephalon in various reptiles
    • baroreceptor - a sensory receptor that responds to pressure
    • chemoreceptor - a sensory receptor that responds to chemical stimuli
    • thermoreceptor - a sensory receptor that responds to heat and cold
    • eye, oculus, optic - the organ of sight
    • ear - the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
    • organ of hearing - the part of the ear that is responsible for sensations of sound
    • inner ear, internal ear, labyrinth - a complex system of interconnecting cavities; concerned with hearing and equilibrium
    • semicircular canal - one of three tube loops filled with fluid and in planes nearly at right angles with one another; concerned with equilibrium
    • stretch receptor - a receptor in a muscle that responds to stretching of the muscle tissue
    has: papilla - a small nipple-shaped protuberance concerned with taste, touch, or smell
    is a part of: sensory system - the body's system of sense organs
    same as: sense organ, sensory receptor

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