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The larger the receptive field, the _______ the size of the corresponding cortical area.

a) Smaller
b) Larger
c) Unrelated to
d) Constant in

User Aylon
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1 Answer

6 votes

Final answer:

The size of the cortical area is bigger when the receptive field is larger, which corresponds to having fewer sensory receptors on that portion of skin. This contrasts with areas with many sensory receptors, which have smaller receptive fields and take up more cortex space.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement 'The larger the receptive field, the bigger the size of the corresponding cortical area' is accurate. When an area of skin has a larger receptive field, this typically means it has fewer sensory receptors and thus requires a larger area of the cortex to process information from this field.

In contrast, areas of skin with large numbers of sensory receptors, such as the fingertips or lips, have smaller receptive fields, and the corresponding areas of the cortex are densely packed and more fine-tuned, taking up a proportionally larger area of the cortex relative to the size of the skin area.

User Hujaakbar
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