18 - Nervous Tissue Flashcards
What neurones occupy the CNS and PNS?
CNS: neurons and glial cells
PNS: cranial, spinal, autonomic nerves and ganglia

What does white matter consist of and where is it found?
- Myelinated axons
- Peripheral in spinal cord
- Central in brain

What does grey matter consist of and where is it found?
- Neuronal cell bodies, dendrites, axon terminals, non-myelinated axons, neuroglia
- Peripheral in brain
- Central in spinal cord
What are neuroglia and what are the four types?
Cells that support neurons metabolically and supportively in the CNS
- Astrocytes
- Oligodendrocytes
- Microglia
- Ependymal cells
What names are given to grey matter in the brain?
- Cortex (convoluted outer layer of the cerebrum)
- Nuclei (deeply placed collections of cell bodies)
What is myelin made of?
- Lipid rich
- Oligodendrocytes in CNS
- Schwann cells in PNS
- Concentric wrapping of cell around axon
- Multiple cells around one axon

Draw and describe the cross section of a human spinal chord?
- Gray matter is butterfly
- Ventral and dorsal horns
- Grey commisure connects left and right grey matter so can communicate
- Ventral fissure
- Pia mater
- Dorsal roots

What is the ventral fissure?
Groove along the anterior midline of the spinal chord that divides it into two symmetrical halves
a.k.a anterior median fissure

What is the pia mater?
Outer connective tissue layer that contributes to blood brain barrier.
No blood vessels in nervous tissue so pia mater supplies tissue with small blood vessels
How are dendrites made?
Nerve growth factor
What is the basic structure of a neuron?
Main cell body (soma), dendrites and proximal axon in CNS

What is the longest nerve and where does it run to?
Sciatic
- From base of spine to tip of the toes
Where do neurons and their supporting cells originate from?
Neuroectoderm
Cells that line the neural tube elongate and proliferate as neural groove closes. Proliferatre in pseudostratified columunar epithelia and CNS produced from here
What is another word for the cell body?
Perikaryon
What are Nissl bodies?
Aggregations of RER, that are basophilic because of ribosomal RNA.

What are the four types of neurones and where are they found and what are their functions?
- Motor: CNS to PNS. Send signals to effectors
- Sensory neurones: PNS to CNS. Send environmental signals to integrative centre
- Integrative: CNS. Collate information
- Anaaxonic: e.g Retina. Act as relays.

What is the structure of an anaaxonic neuron?
- No axon, many dendrites
- Holds onto signal
- Used for vision
What neurons are found in CNS and what in PNS?
CNS: mainly interneurons but pyramid and purkinje as well. multipolar
PNS: unipolar, bipolar and postsynaptic neurones

What is the difference between a bipolar, pseudounipolar and multipolar neuron?
Pseudounipolar: One process from soma. Dorsal root ganglion
Bi polar: Two processes from soma. Sensory neurones
Multipolar: More than two processes. CNS mainly made of these

What are the main things you see of a neuron when looking down light microscope?
- Nucleolus and soma as they take up stain
- Rarely see axon as two small and doesn’t take up dye

When looking at a neuron down a TEM what do you mainly see?
- Lot of RER
- Lot of euchromatin
- Thin nuclear envelope
- Lots of golgi
- Lots of vesicles and ribosomes
Because cell is generating a lot of proteins
What are anterograde and retrograde vesicles?
Anterograde: being moved away from soma to axon
Reterograde: being moved back towards the soma
How do vesicles get from the soma down the axon?
- When a vesicle is ready to move microtubules are assembled at axon pillock
- Motor protein kinesin moves vesicles and mitochondria anterograde
- Motor protein dynactin moves empty vesicles reterograde

How are neurontransmitteres produced?
Immature vesicle contains only enzyme.
As vesicle travels down axon, using microtubules, neurotransmitter is synthesised














