Chapter 12 Flashcards
Nervous system
• central nervous system (cns)
• brain
• spinal cord
Nervous system
• peripheral nervous system (pns)
• all nervous tissues not in the cns
Peripheral nervous system (pns) components
• Nerves
•cranial nerves- 12 pairs of nerves emerging from the brain
•spinal nerves- 31 pairs of nerves emerging from the spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system (pns) components
• Sensory receptors
•Touch receptors in the skin
•Photoreceptors in the eye
•Olfactory receptors in the nose
Peripheral nervous system (pns) division
• Sensory (afferent) division
•Somatic senses
•Special senses
Peripheral nervous system (pns) division
• Motor (efferent) division
•Somatic Nervous System
•Autonomic Nervous System
•Sympathetic Nervous System
•Parasympathetic Nervous System
•Enteric Nervous System
Nervous system function
• Helps to maintain homeostasis and helps to keep control of conditions that maintain health
Nerve function (pns)
• bundle of hundreds- thousands of axons plus associated connective tissue and blood vessels that lies outside the brain and spinal cord
Sensory receptors function
• structures of the nervous system that monitor changes in the external and internal environment
-touch receptors to feel
-photoreceptors to see
-olfactory receptors to smell
Sensory (afferent) division function
• conveys input into the CNS from sensory receptors in the body
-Somatic senses- tactile, thermal, pain, proprioceptive sensations
-Special senses- smell, taste, vision, hearing, equilibrium
Motor (efferent) division function
• conveys output from the CNS to effectors (muscles and glands)
-Somatic Nervous System- conveys output from the CNS to skeletal muscles (voluntary)
-Autonomic Nervous System- conveys output from the CNS to smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands (involuntary)
•Sympathetic Nervous System- fight or flight
•Parasympathetic Nervous System- rest and digest
•Enteric Nervous System- helps regulate the activity of smooth muscles and glands of the GI tract
Sensory (input) functions
•Sense changes in the internal and external environment through sensory receptors
•Sensory Neurons
Integrative (processing) function
•Analyze incoming sensory information, store some aspects, and make decisions regarding appropriate behaviors
•Integration (inter/association neurons)
Motor (output) function
•Respond to stimuli by initiating action by activating effectors through the cranial and spinal nerves.
•Motor Neurons
2 types of cells that make up nervous tissue
1.) Neurons- provide most of the unique functions of the nervous system
2.) Neuroglia- support, nourish, and protect neurons
Parts of neuron
• cell body
• contains a nucleus, lysosomes, mitochondria, a Golgi complex, cytoplasmic inclusions such as lipofuscin, chromatophilic substances, and neurofibrils
Parts of neuron
• dendrites
• receiving/input portions of the neurons (there are many of these)
Parts of neuron
• axon
• conducts nerve impulses from the neuron to the dendrites or cell body of another neuron or to an effector organ of the body (usually only one of these)
Parts of neuron
• ganglion
• a collection of neuron cell bodies outside the CNS
Structural classification of neurons
• multipolar
• several dendrites and one axon
-Most neurons in the brain and spinal cord and all motor neurons
Structural classification of neurons
• bipolar
one dendrite and one axon
-Found in the retina of the eye, the inner ear, and olfactory area of the brain
Structural classification of neurons
• unipolar
• dendrites and one axon that are fused together to form a contentious process that emerges from the cell body
-The dendrites of most of these function as sensory receptors
Neuroglia characteristics
-specialized tissue cells that…
-Support neurons
-Attach neurons to blood vessels
-Produce the myelin sheath around axons
-Carry out phagocytosis
-Not electrically excitable
-Make up about half the volume of the nervous system
-Can multiply and divide
-6 kinds total (4 in CNS, 2 in PNS)
Neuroglia CNS
• Astrocytes
•Contain microfilaments that give them considerable strength, which enables them to support neurons.
•Processes of astrocytes wrapped around blood capillaries isolate neurons of the CNS from various potentially harmful substances in blood by secreting chemicals that maintain the unique selective permeability characteristic of the blood-brain barrier.
•help to maintain the appropriate chemical environment for the generation of nerve impulses.
• may also play a role in learning and memory by influencing the formation of neural synapses
Oligodendrocytes
-resemble astrocytes but are smaller and contain fewer processes
•Their processes are responsible for forming and maintaining the myelin sheath
around multiple CNS axons
Neuroglia CNS
• Microglia
•function as phagocytes
•remove cellular debris formed during normal development of the nervous system and phagocytize microbes and damaged nerve tissue
Neuroglia CNS
• ependymal cells
• cuboidal or columnar cells arranged in a single layer that possess microvilli or cilia
•Line the ventricles of the brain and the central canal of the spinal cord
•Monitor and assist in the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid
Neuroglia PNS
• Schwann cells
•Encircle PNS axons and form the myelin sheath around axons
•Each Schwann cell myelinates only a single axon
•1 Schwann cell can also enclose as many as 20 or more UNmyelinated axons
Neuroglia PNS
• satellite cells
•Flat cells that surround the cell bodies of the neurons of PNS ganglia
•Provide structural support and regulate the exchange of materials between the neuronal cell bodies and interstitial fluids
Myelin sheath
•multilayered lipid and protein covering produced by Schwann cells (PNS) an oligodendrocytes (CNS) that surrounds the axons of most neurons
•Axons without this sheath are called unmyelinated
Myelination in PNS
•Schwann cells begin to form myelin sheaths around axons during fetal development:
•Each Schwann cell wraps about 1 mm of a single axon’s length by spiraling many times around the axon.
•Eventually, multiple layers of glial plasma membrane surround the axon, with the Schwann cell’s cytoplasm and nucleus forming the outermost layer.
• The inner portion, consisting of up to 100 layers of Schwann cell membrane, is the
myelin sheath.
•The outer nucleated cytoplasmic layer of the Schwann cell, which encloses the myelin sheath, is the neurolemma which is found only around axons in the PNS.
•When an axon is injured, the neurolemma aids regeneration by forming a regeneration tube that guides and stimulates regrowth of the axon.
•Gaps in the myelin sheath, called nodes of Ranvier, appear at intervals along the axon. Each Schwann cell wraps one axon segment between two nodes
Myelination in CNS
- oligodendrocyte myelinates parts of several axons:
•Each oligodendrocyte puts forth about 15 broad, flat processes that spiral around CNS axons, forming a myelin sheath.
•A neurolemma is not present, because the oligodendrocyte cell body and nucleus do not envelop the axon.
•Nodes of Ranvier are present, but they are fewer in number.
•Axons in the CNS display little regrowth after injury.
•This is thought to be due, in part, to the absence of a neurolemma, and in part to an inhibitory influence exerted by the oligodendrocytes on axon regrowth.
Action potentials (ap)
•allow communication over short and long distances whereas
-Production of an AP or a GP depends upon the existence of a resting membrane potential and the existence of certain ion channels
Graded potentials (gp)
•allow communication over short distances only
-Production of an AP or a GP depends upon the existence of a resting membrane potential and the existence of certain ion channels
Membrane potential
• an electrical potential difference (voltage) across the membrane. In excitable cells this voltage is called resting membrane potential
Ion channels
• leak channels
• gated channels that randomly open and close