Sensory receptor function

Each sensory receptor, whether it be mechanoreceptor, photoreceptor, chemoreceptor, thermoreceptor, or nocireceptor, is responsible for processing an environmental stimulus and converting it to electrical energy. This typically involves opening or closing of an ion channel in the receptor membrane leading to change in receptor potential. The stimulus features that can be encoded can include modality, spatial location, intensity, threshold, and duration of stimulus, which are all important features to assess when interpreting the external environment.