APPP 11: Peripheral Nervous System and Autonomic Nervous System Flashcards
What is the nervous system divided into anatomically?
- peripheral nervous system (PNS)
- central nervous system (CNS)
What is the PNS divided into?
- autonomic nervous system (involuntary)
- somatic nervous system (voluntary)
What is the autonomic nervous system divided into?
- parasympathetic nervous system
- sympathetic nervous system
What is the somatic nervous system divided into?
- sensory
- motor
How many nerves does the PNS have?
- 12 cranial nerves (ventral surface of the brain)
- 31 spinal nerves
Are nerves of the PNS myelinated (formed by surrounding Schwann cells) or unmyelinated?
can be either
What type of information do spinal nerves of the PNS contain?
both afferent and efferent information
What type of information do cranial nerves of the PNS contain?
only afferent information
What does the somatic nervous system of the PNS innervate?
skeletal muscle
What does the autonomic nervous system of the PNS innervate?
- glands
- neurons of the gastrointestinal tract
- cardiac and smooth muscles of glandular tissue
What is cranial nerve I?
olfactory nerve
- smell
What is cranial nerve II?
optic nerve
- vision
What is cranial nerve III?
oculomotor nerve
- control of eye movement – precise movement
- pupil constriction – focusing
What is cranial nerve IV?
trochlear nerve
- control of eye movement – move down and out
What is cranial nerve V?
trigeminal nerve – 3 branches (V1, V2, V3)
- touch, pain
- muscles for chewing
- V1: general sensory innervation to cornea, bridge of nose, scalp, and forehead
- V2: sensory innervation to the nasal cavity, sinuses, and maxillary teeth
- V3: sensory innervation of the lower part of the face (tongue, mandibular teeth, motor innervation of muscles of mastication)
What is cranial nerve VI?
abducens nerve
- control of eye movement – directs pupil laterally
What is cranial nerve VII?
facial nerve
- taste – anterior 2/3 of tongue
- sound
- facial expression, submandibular and sublingual salivary glands
What is cranial nerve VIII?
vestibulocochlear nerve
- hearing
- balance – equilibrium
What is cranial nerve IX?
glossopharyngeal nerve
- taste – posterior 1/3 of tongue
- gag reflex
- swallowing
- also motor innervation to parotid gland (saliva)
- also somatosensory information from tongue, tonsils, pharynx
What are the 5 tastes?
- sweet
- sour
- bitter
- salty
- umami (amino acid)
What is cranial nerve X?
vagus nerve
- has the most extensive distribution in the body
- supplies parasympathetic innervation (digestion, breathing, heart rate)
- slows heart reate
- increases secretions
What is cranial nerve XI?
spinal accessory nerve
- head movement – head turning
What is cranial nerve XII?
hypoglossal nerve
- tongue movement
What is the autonomic nervous system involve in?
- arousal (fight or flight), sympathetic
- calm (relax and digest), parasympathetic
What are the cranial nerves involved in the parasympathetic nervous system?
- oculomotor (III)
- facial (VII)
- glossopharyngeal (IX)
- vagus (X)
Which spinal nerves are involved in the sympathetic nervous system?
- thoracic
- lumbar
Describe the 2-neuron system of the autonomic nervous system.
- cells of origin lie within the CNS
- synapse occurs in the autonomic ganglia located outside the CNS
- preganglionic fibre utilizes a neurotransmitter to signal the postganglionic fibre
- postganglionic fibre uses a neurotransmitter to signal the effector organ
- these two neurotransmitters are not always the same
Where is the ganglia and what is the major neurotransmitter of the parasympathetic division?
- parasympathetic ganglia are usually located in or near target organs
- major neurotransmitter is acetylcholine
What is a result of parasympathetic activation
- slows heart rate
- decreases blood pressure
- constricts pupils
- stimulates digestive system activity
- promotes emptying of bladder and rectum
Where is the ganglia and what is the major neurotransmitter of the sympathetic division?
- sympathetic ganglia are usually located in proximal ganglion
- major neurotransmitter is acetylcholine and norepinephrine
What is a result of sympathetic activation?
- increases heart rate
- increases blood pressure
- dilates pupils
- decrease digestive system activity
What are the neurotransmitters of the ANS and what effect do they have?
acetylcholine and norepinephrine
- both can have excitatory and inhibitory actions
- mode of action depends on the receptor present on the target neuron or tissue
What are nicotinic receptors of the ANS and how do they work?
- ligand-gated ion channels
- responsive to ACh
- activation always causes a rapid increase in cellular permeability to Na+ and Ca2+
- depolarization and excitation
What are muscarinic receptors of the ANS and how do they work?
- there are 5 distinct subtypes, each produced by a different gene – these variants have distinct anatomic locations in the periphery and CNS and differing chemical specificities
- are metabotropic receptors (GPCRs) – can inhibit or excite postsynaptic neurons depending on their coupling to G-protein α-subunits
What happens when a signaling molecule binds to a G-Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR)?
results in G protein activation, which in turn triggers the production of any number of second messengers