9. Central Nervous System Flashcards
Receptors
SOMATIC: monitor outside world
VISCERAL: internal conditions
Where do receptors feed into?
Afferent division of the peripheral nervous system
Brings information to CNS
What occurs in the CNS?
Information processing and coordination of sensory input and motor commands
What are the 2 divisions of the efferent peripheral nervous system?
Somatic
Autonomic
What are the effector(s) of the somatic nervous system?
Skeletal muscle
What are the 2 divisions of the autonomic nervous system?
Sympathetic
Parasympathetic
What are the effector(s) of the autonomic nervous system?
Smooth muscle
Cardiac muscle
Glands
What does having a highly folded core allow humans to have?
More neurones
Thus be smarter animals
What is the role of the cerebellum?
Coordinates complex somatic motor patterns
What are the 2 parts of the diencephalon?
Thalamus: Integration centre for somatic and special sensory info and projection to cortex. Involved in emotional status, consciousness, appropriate motor response.
Hypothalamus: integration hub. Regulates temperature, emotion, hunger, thirst, hormone and autonomic function
What lies beneath the corpus callosum?
Diencephalon
What structure connects the right and left hemispheres?
Corpus Callosum
What is the role of the cerebrum?
Conscious thought processes, intellectual functions
Memory storage and processing
Conscious and subconscious regulation of skeletal muscle contraction
What is the role of the midbrain?
Processing visual and auditory data
Generation of reflexive somatic motor responses
Maintenance of consciousness
What is the role of the pons?
Relays sensory info to cerebellum and thalamus
Subconscious somatic and visceral motor centres
What is the role of the medulla oblongata?
Relays sensory info to thalamus and brain stem
Autonomic centres for regulation of visceral function
Difference between meaning of “ventral” in body and brain
Body: Towards abdomen
Brain: Inferior
Difference between meaning of “dorsal” in body and brain
Body: Towards back
Brain: Superior
What makes the pons recognisable?
It bulges anteriorly
Describe the spinal cord
33 vertebrae
31 pairs of nerves (in cervical segment there are 7 vertebrae and 8 nerves)
What are the hole in the vertebral column that spinal nerves pass through called?
Intervertebral Foramina
Spinal cord and vertebral column relative lengths
Spinal cord is shorter than the vertebral column: finishes at L1/L2
Below this is just emergence of nerves.
What is the consequence of there being no nervous tissue in lumbar cistern?
Provides safe site for lumbar puncture, usually between L3 and L4
List the groups of vertebral segments
Cervical Thoracic Lumbar Sacral Coccygeal