Animal responses Flashcards
What’s the role of the nervous system?
to carry out rapid and well-coordinated responses to external stimuli
components of the NS (PMAP)
CNS + PNS
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SENSORY + MOTOR
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SOMATIC + AUTONOMIC
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SYMP + PARASYMPATHETIC
what are the two divisions of the nervous system?
- peripheral nervous system
- central nervous system
What are the two divisions of the peripheral nervous system?
- sensory system
- motor system
what are the divisions of the motor system?
- somatic nervous system
- autonomic nervous system
what’s the CNS
- the central part of the NS composed of the brain and spinal cord
- the brain contains mainly unmyelinated neurones (grey matter)
- also present in spinal cord however, there’s also lots of myelinated neurones (white matter)
- spinal cord protected by the vertebral column.
define the PNS
- the sensory neurones (connecting sensory receptors to CNS)
- motor neurones (connecting CNS to effectors)
what’s the sensory nervous system?
- sensory neurones conduct ac pots from sensory receptors into the CNS
what’s the motor nervous system?
- conducts ac pots from CNS to effector
describe the autonomic nervous system
- part of the NS responsible for controlling the involuntary activities which are sunbconsciously controlled
- there are at least 2 neurones involved in the connection between the CNS and effector. Connected at small swellings called ganglia
- neurones are unmyelinated as rapid response not needed
- controls majority of the homeostatic responses
define the somatic nervous sytem
- Part of NS that controls voluntary activities under conscious control
- motor neurones are under conscious control
- one single neurone conducts ac pots from CNS to effectors under voluntary control (skeletal muscles)
- myelinated for rapid response
what are the divisions and functions of the autonomic nervous system?
- sympathetic system which prepares body for activity
- parasympathetic system which conserves energy
- they’re antagonistic
what are the four main parts of the brain?
- cerebrum
- cerebellum
- hypothalamus and pituitary gland
- medulla oblongata
function of cerebrum?
- largest part
- has two hemispheres connected by the corpus callosum
- outer layer is the cerebral cortex
- organises most of our highest thought processes like conscious thought, memory, intelligence
function of the cerebellum?
- coordinates movement and balance
- connected to the cerebrum by the pons
function of the hypothalamus and pituitary gland?
- organises homeostatic responses (thermoregulation and osmoregulation)
- pituitary gland releases hormones and stimulate other glands, controlled by the hypothalamus
function of the medulla oblongata?
- coordinates many autonomic responses (unconscious activities) like breathing and heart rate
- controls non-skeletal muscles
what’s a reflex action?
- a response to a stimulus that doesn’t involve the brain to coordinate movement
- nervous pathway is short so that reflex is rapid
why are reflexes important?
- used to get out of danger
- avoid damage to body part
- maintain balance
what’s a knee jerk reflex?
- a spinal reflex (passes through spinal cord) that straightens the leg when the quadricep is stretched to maintain balance
mechanism of knee jerk reflex
1) muscle spindles detect a stretch in the patellar tendon over the knee
2) sensory neurones conduct ac pot directly to a motor neurone in the spinal cord
3) motor neurone causes quadricep muscle to contract so the lower leg moves forward quickly, counteracting the change in length
why is the knee jerk reflex unusual
only consists of 2 neurones, absence of relay neurone means the pathway can’t be inhibited
what’s the blinking reflex?
a cranial reflex (passes through the brain) that causes temporary closure of the eyes from damage
mechanism of the blinking reflex
1) loud sounds, bright lights, foreign objects or movement is detected by sensory receptors in the cornea of the eye
2) sensory neurones conduct ac pots to the pons (in brain)
3) a motor neurone transmits ac pots to the eyelid muscles
4) eyelids contract to cause blinking, protecting the eye
what’s the mechanism corneal reflex?
- sensory neurone from the cornea conducts ac pot to relay neurone (in the pons) to motor neurone
- motor neurone conducts ac pot to the facial muscles and causes the eyelids to blink.
- sensory neurones also pass ac pots to myelinated neurones in the pons which carry it to the cerebral cortex
- this allows the reflex to be overridden by conscious control via inhibitory signals
the brain coordinates responses through output to the effectors. What are the outputs? ( what comes after motor)
- action potentials in the somatic nervous system
- ac pots in the sympathetic and parasympathetic parts of the autonomic nervous system
- release of hormones via the hypothalamus and pituitary glands