One patient at your audiology clinic has an actin defect, and another patient has a microtubule defect. What sense other than hearing may be affected in these patients?

Question

A.  smell
B.  taste
C.  balance
D.  touch
E.  proprioception

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?

Gather Content
What do you already know about hair cells? What other information is related to the question?

Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
 

Answer 1

C.  balance

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        · What sense would actin or microtubule defects affect?
What type of thinking is required?
            o This is an analyze question because you have to break down the components of a sensory hair cell and what proteins are involved in order to determine how defects in these proteins would affect hearing and other senses.

Gather Content
What do you already know about hair cells? What other information is related to the question?
        · You already know that hair cells are found in the organ of Corti in the inner ear. These hair cells have one long kinocilium that is a true cilium that contains microtubules and many smaller stereocilia which are microvilli containing actin fibers. If there is a defect in either microtubules or actin, this may hinder hair cell and thus hearing function. Hair cells are also associated with the semicircular canals of the ear which are used for sensing the orientation of the body and balance.

Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        · The patient is at an audiology clinic, which usually works with patients with hearing problems. You know that hair cells in the ear have actin and microtubules that are necessary for their proper function for hearing, but hearing is not one of the answers to choose from. So what other sense requires hair cells? Smell, taste, touch, and proprioception do not. That leaves balance. The sense of balance is provided by hair cells that are located at each of three semicircular canals.

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        o Answering this question correctly depended upon your knowledge of the localization of actin and microtubules in sensory hair cells and understanding the function of the stereocilia and kinocilium. If you answered incorrectly, which answer did you choose? Did you think that actin and microtubules are important to other sensory systems besides hearing and balance? Actin and microtubules are important parts of the cytoskeleton of all cells, so that is a good thought, but the key is that the patient is at an audiology clinic which studies diseases of the ear. Balance is provided by semicircular canals and hair cells in the ear, so it is the only logical choice.