3.1.1 Central Nervous System Flashcards
What is the central nervous system?
A network of neurons that connects the brain and the spinal cord.
What is the peripheral nervous system and what are its components?
All of the nerves cells outside of the CNS
Somatic nervous system (voluntary bodily functions)
Autonomic nervous system (involuntary bodily functions)
What is the autonomic nervous system made up of?
Sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight that induces an increase in bodily functions)
Parasympathetic (involved with slowing down bodily functions)
What is the endocrine system?
A chemical messenger system consisting of hormones that travel via the blood.
What is the function of ventricles?
A communicating network of cavities in the brain that are filled with cerebrospinal fluid
What is the function of the striatum?
A component in the basal ganglia involved in stimulating voluntary movement.
What is the function of the limbic system?
Concerned with emotions and memories
> incl the hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala.
What are 3 functions of the frontal lobe?
1) Problem solving
2) Personality
3) Impulse control
What are 3 functions of the amygdala?
1) Emotions
2) Fight or flight with the survival instincts
3) Memory
Describe the function of hypothalamus
It is responsible for the production of essential hormones and temperature regulation.
What are 3 functions of the parietal lobe?
1) Process sensory information from all over the body
2) Processing language and maths and speech
3) Processing visual information of spatial awareness
What are 3 functions of the temporal lobe?
1) Primary auditory perception
2) Receives sensory info from the ears
3) Processes the info into meaningful speech and words
What are 3 functions of the occipital lobe?
1) Visual processing
2) Organises images we can understand them
3) Spatial organisation
What is the function of the medial temporal lobe?
Responsible for declarative memory of facts and events that can be consciously recalled.
What is the function of the cerebellum?
It coordinates voluntary motor activities to ensure smooth musical activity.
What is the function of the hippocampus?
Short term memories being converted into long term memory to get stored here.
What is the function of the corpus callosum?
-Largest white matter structure in brain, located between both hemispheres
> Role= communication between hemispheres asw as cereberal cortex, subcortical structures, thalamus and hypothalamus
How does the information get to the brain?
Nerves in our body pass messages via spinal cord to the brain
What is a neuron?
A chemical messenger that carries messages through the body via electrical impulses
What is a synapse?
a small gap at the end of a neuron that allows a signal to pass from one neuron to the next
What is the soma?
Cell body
What are dendrites?
Branched extensions where neuron recieves NTs
What is a nucleus?
Keeps cell alive & controls cell functioning
What is the mitochondria?
In charge of cell respiration
What is an axon?
Long cable extending from main body where electrical impulses from the neuron travel away to be recieved by other neurons
What is the myelin sheath?
Protective layer of lipids + proteins to cover the axon
What are the schwan cells?
peripheral nervous system cell (glia) that forms the myelin sheath around axons.
What are the nodes of ranvier?
Gaps between the myelin sheath that allow the signals to be sent faster
What is the axon terminal?
End of the axon (branch like)
What are the terminal buttons?
Release Nts to synapse and next neuron
What are vesicles?
sac-like structures in neurons that store neurotransmitter molecules before releasing them into the synapse
What is a pre-synaptic neuron?
The neuron that transmits a signal towards the synapse
What is a post-synaptic neuron?
The neuron that recieves a signal from the synapse
What are receptors?
the part of a nerve that receives and reads chemical signals from NTs
What are transporters?
protein at a synapse that recognizes NTs and collects them to transport them to presynaptic neuron
Briefly describe synaptic transmission
When AP (action potential) reaches the end of a neuron (terminal button), triggers release of neurotransmitter from tiny sacs called synaptic vesicles.
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that diffuse across synapse to next neuron in the chain. Each neurotransmitter has its own specific receptor siteswhich have a complimentary shape for the neurotransmitter like a lock and key & be absorbed by the postsynaptic neuron.
The chemical signal carried by neurotransmitters is converted back into electrical signal in postsynaptic neuron, may fire another AP.
Reuptake- Neurotransmitter molecules remaining in synapse are reabsorped into presynaptic neuron or destroyed by enzymes in synaptic cleft, means neurotransmitters can be used again.
