The Nervous System Notes Part 1

Master control and communication system of the body
It communicates with body cells using the , which are rapid and specific and cause
almost immediate responses.
- gather information
- monitor changes, called ,
occurring inside and outside the body
- nervous system processes and interprets sensory

input and decides whether action is needed
- a response, or effect, activates muscles or glands
- is based on the of the nervous system

1. Central Nervous System
2. Peripheral Nervous System
- is based on the of the nervous system

1. Sensory (afferent) Division
2. Motor (efferent) Division
- occupy the dorsal body cavity

Organs:
1. Brain
2. Spinal Cord
Function
 Integration; command center
 Interprets incoming sensory information
 Issues outgoing instructions based on past
 experience and current conditions
- nerves extending the brain and spinal cord
1. Spinal Nerves- carry impulses to and from the spinal cord
2. Cranial Nerves- carry impulses to and from the brain
Functions:
 Serve as communication lines among sensory organs, the brain and spinal cord, and glands or muscles
- Nerve fibers that carry information to the - nerve fibers that carry impulses away from the
central nervous canal central nervous system organs to effector organs
- afferent literally means to go toward ( muscles and glands)
Two Subdivisions:
- soma = body 1. = voluntary
- carry information from the skin, skeletal - allow us to consciously (voluntarily) control
muscles, and joints our skeletal muscles
2. = involuntary
- carry information from visceral organs - regulates events that are involuntary (no
concious control)
- automatically controls smooth and cardiac
muscles and glands
- further divided into the and
nervous systems
Functions:
 Serve as communication lines among sensory
organs, the brain and spinal cord, and glands or
muscles
Nervous tissue is made up of only two principle types of cells

1. Supporting Cells (neuroglia or, glial cells or, glia)
 Resemble neurons
 Unable to conduct nerve impulses
 Never lose the ability to divide
2. Neurons
Supporting cells in the CNS are “lumped together” as

- nerve glue (glial cells = )
Functions:
 Support, insulate, and protect the delicate neurons
 abundant; star-shaped cells
 Have swollen ends that brace and anchors neurons to blood capillaries
 Determine permeability and exchanges between blood capillaries and neurons (semipermeable)
 Protect neurons from harmful substances in blood
Control the chemical environment of the brain by “mopping up leaked potassium
 Spider-like phagocytes
 Monitor the health of nearby neurons
 Dispose of debris (dead brain cells and bacteria)
 Line central cavities of the brain and spinal cord

 Participate in the production of
 helps to circulate the CSF that fills those cavities and forms a protective watery cushion around
the CNS
 Wrap their flat extensions (processes) around the CNS nerve fibers
 Produce - fatty insulating coverings
 Form myelin sheath around nerve fibers in the PNS
 Protect and cushion neuron cell bodies
 Cells specialized to transmit messages ( nerve impulses) from one part of the body to another
 Major regions of all neurons:
1. - nucleus and metabolic center of the cell
2. - fibers that extend from the cell body
- is the of the neuron

1. Transparent with large nucleolus
2. Cytoplasm contains the usual organelles (which confirms the amitotic nature of
most neurons)
3. - rough endoplasmic reticulum
4. - intermediate filaments that maintain cell shape
-vary in length from microscopic to over 3 ft. long
 Conduct impulses the cell body

 Neurons may have hundreds of branching dendrites
(dendr = tree)
 Conduct impulses from the cell body

 Neurons have only one axon arising from the
cell body at the - conelike region of the cell body
 End in , which contain hundreds of tiny vesicles,
or membranous sacs that contain chemicals called
 Axon terminals are separated from the next neuron by a gap called
the
 - functional junction where an impulse is transmitted
from one neuron to another
 Although they are very close, neurons never actually touch other
neurons or target cells
 is a white, fatty material covering axons, has a waxy

appearance
 Protects and insulates fibers
 Speeds nerve impulse transmission
 Wraps axons in a jelly roll-like fashion (PNS) to form the

myelin sheaths
1. - part of the Schwann cell external
to the myelin sheath
2. - gaps in myelin sheath along the axon
 Produce myelin sheaths around axons of the (CNS)

 One oligodendrocyte can form many myelin sheaths
1. ( plays a role in fiber regeneration)
- clusters of cell bodies in the CNS
- collections of cell bodies outside the CNS in the PNS
- bundles of nerve fibers (axons) in the CNS
- bundles of nerve fibers (axons) in the PNS
- consists of dense collections of myelinated fibers
- consists mostly unmyelinated fibers and cell bodies
-neurons are grouped according to the direction the nerve impulse travels relative to the CNS
 Carry impulses from the sensory receptors to the CNS

 Keep us informed about what is happening both inside and outside the body
 Dendrite endings of SN are associated with specialized that are activated by specific
changes occuring nearby
 Receptors include:
1. in skin detect pain, temperature, touch, pressure
2. in muscles and tendons detect stretch (Propria = Latin word “one’s own”)
 Carry impulses from the central nervous system to viscera and/or muscles and glands
 Cell bodies of motor neurons are usually located in the CNS
 Cell bodies located in the CNS

 Connect sensory and motor neurons in neural pathways
- based on number of processes extending from the cell body
- many extensions from the cell body
 All motor and interneurons are multipolar
 Most common structural type
- one axon and one denfrite

 Located in special sense organs, such as nose and eye
 Rare in adults
- have a short single process leaving the cell body

 Sensory neurons found in PNS ganglia
 Conduct impulses both toward and away from the body cell
- ability to respond to a stimulus and convert it to a nerve impulse

- ability to transmit the impulse to other neurons, muscles, or glands
1. The plasma membrane at rest is inactive ( )

2. are inside the neuron’s plasma membrane than the outside
3. is the major positive ion inside the cell
4. + is the major positive ion outside the cell
5. The polarized membrane is more permeable to K+ than to Na+ at rest,
(fewer positive ions) compared to the outside, as K+ ions exit the cell
6. As long as the inside of the membrane is more negative (fewer positive ions) than the outside, the cell
remains (resting state of the Neuron)
1. A stimulus changes the permeability of the neuron’s membrane to sodium ions

2. Sodium channels now open, and sodium (Na+) diffuses into the neuron
3. The inward rush of sodium ions changes the polarity at the site and is called
1. A (localized depolarization exists where the and

the outside is less positive
2. If the stimulus is string enough and sodium influx is great enough, local depolarization ( graded potential)
activates the neuron to conduct an action potential ( nerve impulse)
1. If enough sodium enters the cell, the action potential (nerve impulse) starts and is propagated over the
entire axon
2. means the nerve impulse either propagated (conducted, or sent) or is not
3. Fibers with myelin sheaths conduct nerve impulses more quickly
Membrane permeability changes again- becoming and
2. Potassium ions rapidly diffuse out of the neuron, repolarizing the membrane
3. involves restoring the inside of the membrane to a negative charge and the outer surface
to a positive charge
Initial conditions of sodium and potassium ions are restores using the
2. This pump, using ATP, restores the original configuration
3. from the cell while to the cell
4. Until repolarization is complete, a neuron cannot conduct another nerve impulse
When the action potential reaches the axon
terminal, the electrical charge opens calcium
channels
Calcium ions, in turn, cause the tiny vesicles

containing the neurotransmitter to fuse with the
axonal membrane
The entry of calcium into the axon terminal

causes porelike openings to form, releasing the
neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft
The neurotransmitter molecules diffuse

across the synaptic cleft and bind to receptors on
the membrane of the next neuron
If enough neurotransmitter is released, a

graded potential will be generated
 Eventually an action potential ( nerve impulse)
will occur in the neuron beyond the synapse

The electrical changes prompted by
neurotransmitter binding are brief
 The neurotransmitter is quickly removed from
the synapse either by reuptake or by enzymatic
activity
 Transmission of an impulse is
1. Transmission neuron is
2. Transmission to neuron is
 Rapid, predictable, and involuntary responses to stimuli
 Always goes in the same direction
 Occur over neural pathways called
 Two types of Reflexes:
 Reflexes that stimulate the skeletal muscles  Regulate the activity of smooth muscles, the
 Involuntary, although skeletal muscel is heart, and glands
normally under voluntary control  Example: regulation of smooth muscles, heart
 Example: pulling your hand away from a hot and blood pressure, glands, digestive system
object
- reacts to the stimulus

- muscle or gland eventually stimulated
- connect the two
- connect the two
 Simplest type
 Example: patellar (knee-jerk) reflex
 Consists of Five Elements:

1. Receptor
2. Sensory Neuron
3. Interneuron
4. Motor Neuron
5. Effector
 Example: Flexor (withdrawal) reflex

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Master control and communication system of the body

- nervous system processes and interprets sensory

- a response, or effect, activates muscles or glands

- is based on the of the nervous system

- is based on the of the nervous system

- occupy the dorsal body cavity

Nervous tissue is made up of only two principle types of cells

Supporting cells in the CNS are “lumped together” as

 Line central cavities of the brain and spinal cord

 Produce - fatty insulating coverings

 Form myelin sheath around nerve fibers in the PNS

 Protect and cushion neuron cell bodies

- is the of the neuron

 Conduct impulses the cell body

 Conduct impulses from the cell body

 is a white, fatty material covering axons, has a waxy

 Wraps axons in a jelly roll-like fashion (PNS) to form the

 Produce myelin sheaths around axons of the (CNS)

 Carry impulses from the sensory receptors to the CNS

 Cell bodies located in the CNS

- one axon and one denfrite

- have a short single process leaving the cell body

- ability to respond to a stimulus and convert it to a nerve impulse

1. The plasma membrane at rest is inactive ( )

1. A stimulus changes the permeability of the neuron’s membrane to sodium ions

1. A (localized depolarization exists where the and

Membrane permeability changes again- becoming and

Calcium ions, in turn, cause the tiny vesicles

The entry of calcium into the axon terminal

The neurotransmitter molecules diffuse

If enough neurotransmitter is released, a

- reacts to the stimulus

 Consists of Five Elements:

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