Chapter 4 - Nervous System Flashcards
What is a stimulus?
A change in the environment that causes a reaction
What is a response?
An organism’s reaction to a stimulus
What is sensitivity?
The ability of an organism to detect and respond to changes in the environment
What is the role of the nervous system in humans?
- Allows organisms to detect changes in their surroundings and respond to it
- Enables the coordination of the different parts of the body
What are involuntary actions?
Automatic activities that are not controlled consciously
What are voluntary actions?
Activities that are controlled consciously
Which of the following are voluntary actions, and which are involuntary?
- Heart beating
- Digesting food
- Throwing a ball
- Waking up in the morning
- Breathing
Voluntary: - Throwing a ball - Waking up in the morning Involuntary: - Heart beating - Digesting food - Breathing
Voluntary actions: What happens when a cat rubs against your leg? Describe the entire process
- Touch receptors in leg are stimulated
- Nerve impulses are transmitted through the sensory neurones to the spinal cord
- Relay neurones conduct nerve impulses to the brain
- The brain evaluates the information and decides on a response (e.g. pat the cat)
- The brain initiates the generation of nerve impulses
- The nerve impulses are transmitted along the relay neurones to the motor neurones
- Impulses are transmitted to the effector muscles that cause the muscles of your arms to contract and hence, pat the cat
What are the components of the human nervous system?
- Central Nervous System (CNS) consists of the brain and spinal cord
- Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) consists of cranial nerves and spinal nerves
What does nervous tissue consist of?
Consists of nerve cells known as neurones
What are the 3 types of neurones?
- Sensory neurones
- Motor neurones
- Relay or intermediate neurones
What is a neurone made up of?
A cell body, an axon and a dendron
What does the cell body of the neurone contain?
Nucleus and cytoplasm
What is the relationship between the three types of neurones?
Nerve impulse travels from: Sense organ (receptor) → sensory neurone (receptor neurone) → relay neurone (in the central nervous system) → motor neurone (effector neurone) → muscle fibres (effectors)
Function of motor neurones
Transmit nerve impulses from the central nervous system to the nerve effectors
Structure of a motor neurone: Dendrons
Nerve fibres that transmit nerve impulses towards the cell body
Structure of a motor neurone: Dendrites
Dendrites of the dendron receive nerve impulses from other neurones
Dendrites of the axon transmit nerve impulses to the effector
Structure of a motor neurone: Cell body
Irregular in shape
Structure of a motor neurone: Axons
Nerve fibres that carry impulses away from the cell body
Structure of a motor neurone: Myelin sheath
A layer of fatty substance that shields and insulates the nerve fibre
Structure of a motor neurone: Neurilemma
A thin membrane that surrounds the myelin sheath
Structure of a motor neurone: Motor end plate
The junction between the dendrite and muscle fibre
Function of sensory neurones
Transmit nerve impulses from the sense organs to the central nervous system
Structure of a motor neurone: Nodes of Ranvier
Regions where the myelin sheath is absent
Speed up transmission by allowing impulses to jump from node to node
Comparison between a sensory neurone and a motor neurone: Length of fibre
Sensory neurone: Long dendron and short axon
Motor neurone: Short dendron and long axon