10 - Nervous System Flashcards
The nervous system includes which two separate systems?
The CNS and the PNS
The autonomic nervous system is part of the _____
Peripheral nervous system
The study of the nervous system is called ______
Neurology
Neurotransmitters are ______
Chemical messengers
The two ends of a neuron are called the _____
Axon and the dendrite
The space between two cells is called the ______
Synapse
What is both a neurotransmitter and a hormone?
Dopamine
The myelin sheath is a layer of ____ surrounding the neuron.
Insulation
The two main types of cells in the nervous tissue are ______
Neurons and glial cells
___ is a natural opiate produced by the brain to diminish pain.
Endorphin
The only cells that send signals away from the cerebellum are _____
Purkinje cells
____ is damage to or destruction of a cell due to exhaustion or injury.
Chromatolysis
Paralysis affecting only one side of the body is referred to as ______
Hemiplegia
Transient ischemic attack is another term for _____
Mini-stroke
______ provide information about movement and position.
Proprioceptors
The functional unit of the nervous system.
Neurons
A component of a neuron that receives incoming nerve impulses.
Dendrite
A component of a neuron that carries nerve signals away from the body of the neuron.
Axon
Supporting cells that produce electrical insulation as well as other support functions.
Glial cells
Messages in the neurons are carried along with the help of chemicals called _________
Neurotransmitters
A neurotransmitter that propagates electrical impulses from one nerve cell to one another in the PNS.
Acetylcholine
A neurotransmitter involved in the regulation of sleep, body temperature and sensory perception but is also thought to have something to do with our moods.
Serotonin
Neurons that usually have a long dendrite and a short axon, and carry messages from sensory receptors to the CNS.
Afferent neurons
Neurons that have short dendrites and long axons and carry messages from the CNS to the muscles or glands.
Efferent neurons
Another term for afferent neuron.
Sensory neuron
Another term for efferent neuron.
Motor neuron
Specialized cells that react to chemical substances and relay information throughout the CNS.
Chemoreceptors
Specialized cells that respond to light on the retina of the eye.
Photoreceptors
Free nerve endings that respond to pain.
Nociceptors
Specialized cells that detect heat or cold.
Thermoceptors
Specialized cells that are located throughout the muscular and skeletal systems and provide information about body movements and position.
Proprioceptors
What receptors act the same as proprioceptors except that they are exclusively located in the joints?
Joint kinesthetic receptors
The route through the nervous system that connects a receptor and an effector.
Reflex arc
The study of the nervous system and its diseases and disorders.
Neurology
A chemical that carries messages across the synaptic cleft at the synapse; the space between two neurons.
Acetylcholine
The electrical signal that rapidly propagates along the axon of nerve cells and over the surface of some muscle and glandular cells.
Action potential
The principle stating that muscle fibers always contract completely each time they are stimulated by their motor neuron, and that they do not contract at all if they are not stimulated by their motor neuron.
All-or-none principle
The universal energy storage molecule used as a ready energy source in all living cells for all biological energy needs.
ATP
The external plasma membrane of an axon.
Axolemma
A reflex that elicits a response on one side of the body when the opposite is stimulated.
Crossed reflex
A reflex that extends the limbs whenever there is pressure applied to the surface of the hands or the feet.
Extensor thrust reflex
A reflex that causes flexion of the lower extremity whenever the foot is painfully stimulated.
Flexor withdrawal reflex
A reflex in which a single sensory neuron activates more than one motor neuron, stimulating more than one effector, and causing more than one action to take place.
Intersegmental reflex
A reflex in which there is a direct neural connection between the sensory cells and the motor neuron with no intermediary neuron needed.
Monosynaptic reflex
A reflex that allows humans and other animals to maintain the head in the correct position using the neck and limbs based on visual clues from the environment.
Optical righting reflex
Technical name for “goose bumps”, a contraction of the smooth muscle of the skin because of cold or a very light stimulating touch.
Pilomotor reflex
A reflex that works through the trunk and the extremities to keep the body at its right place in space when force is working to make it otherwise (such as falling).
Postual reflex
A reflex in which there is a change in the electrical resistance of the skin caused by an emotional condition.
Psychogalvanic reflex
A reflex in which there is a contraction of the limb and neck muscles that occurs in response to being startled.
Startle reflex
A reflex in which there is a tonic contraction of the muscles due to an applied force; keeps a muscle from stretching far enough to be torn.
Stretch reflex
A reflex that takes place deep in the muscle whenever tapotement (percussion) is applied to the attached tendon.
Tendon reflex
A reflex that regulates the diameter of the blood vessels in response to varying degrees of sympathetic stimulation.
Vasomotor reflex
A reflex in which there is a contraction of the muscles of the abdomen or thorax in response to a stimulus from an internal organ.
Viseromotor reflex
The part of a neuron that carries messages away from the cell body toward target cells.
Axon
The swelling of an axon where it joins a neuron’s cell body; the place where action potentials (nerve impulses) are generated.
Axon hillock
The cytoplasm of a neuron.
Axoplasm
A neuron that has two projections arising from opposite ends of the cell body.
Bipolar neuron
A gap between two neurons in the brain across which an impulse is transmitted by diffusion from one neuron to another neuron by means of a chemical neurotransmitter.
Chemical synapse
Disintegration or damage to a part of a cell due to overexhaustion or injury.
Chromatolysys