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Sensitivity vs Supersensitivity - What's the difference?

sensitivity | supersensitivity |

As nouns the difference between sensitivity and supersensitivity

is that sensitivity is the quality of being sensitive while supersensitivity is (biochemistry|pharmacology) extreme sensitivity (of the body) to a chemical.

sensitivity

English

Noun

(wikipedia sensitivity) (sensitivities)
  • The quality of being sensitive.
  • The ability of an organism or organ to respond to external stimuli.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Fenella Saunders, magazine=(American Scientist)
    • , title= Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture , passage=The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity . They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.}}
  • (statistics) The proportion of individuals in a population that will be correctly identified in a binary classification test.
  • (electronics) The degree of response of an instrument to a change in an input signal.
  • (photography) The degree of response of a film etc. to light of a specified wavelength.

    • supersensitivity

    English

    Noun

    (-)
  • (biochemistry, pharmacology) Extreme sensitivity (of the body) to a chemical.
  • *{{quote-journal, 1997, date=October 3, Eric J. Nestler & George K. Aghajanian, Molecular and Cellular Basis of Addiction, Science citation
    • , passage=Because D 1 dopamine receptors are known to act through stimulatory heterotrimeric guanosine triphosphate-binding (G s ) proteins and activation of the cAMP pathway, up-regulation of this pathway in the nucleus accumbens could account for the functional supersensitivity of D 1 receptors observed in these neurons--which occurs in the absence of detectable changes in the receptors themselves--after chronic cocaine (or other stimulant) exposure (18 ). }}
  • *{{quote-journal, 1998, date=October 9, Zhen-Ming Pei et al., Role of Farnesyltransferase in ABA Regulation of Guard Cell Anion Channels and Plant Water Loss, Science citation
    • , passage=In the next generation seeds were screened for ABA supersensitivity (era1/era1 ). }}
  • *{{quote-journal, 1999, date=October 15, Mohammed Akaaboune et al., Rapid and Reversible Effects of Activity on Acetylcholine Receptor Density at the Neuromuscular Junction in Vivo, Science citation
    • , passage=The effects of inactivity on new receptor synthesis and denervation supersensitivity are mediated by Ca 2 influx (24 ). }}