Input problem? One problem relating to a disturbance of the input pathways is the common cold! With a stuffy nose, your sense of smell can be greatly diminished, since the olfactory receptors are prevented from detecting odors. This answer points out several important concepts you should keep in mind during this course. First, a complex answer is not necessarily a better answer. Second, a disturbed input may or may not lead to an impaired output behavior. For instance, tears resulting from limbic activity might still occur if you have a terrible cold. You could activate that same limbic response through an alternative input, such as vision (e.g., seeing the roses or reading the note that's sure to be attached to the bouquet).
Output problem? If proper functioning of the facial nerve was impaired (perhaps by an injury or a viral infection of the nerve), activity of the lacrimal gland may be altered. You might have few or no tears in one eye (or perhaps both eyes), or you may have copious tearing unrelated to the flowers. Of course, a simplistic analysis of either situation may lead to inappropriate conclusions - you might be thought of as being unemotional or uncaring (no tears) or overly emotional (copious tears). Keep in mind that other problems might surface related to impaired function of the facial nerve. These might include changes in facial muscle tone or altered activity in salivary gland function. How might these problems be interpreted on a superficial level?
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