Divisions of the Nervous System

Question 1

What are the two type of Human Nervous System?

Answer 1

Central
Peripheral

Question 2

What two things are included in the CNS?

Answer 2

Brain
Spinal cord

Question 3

What are the two NS’s included in the Peripheral Nervous System?

Answer 3

Somatic
Autonomic

Question 4

Define Somatic
Define autonomic

Answer 4

Conscious
Unconscious

Question 5

What is the weight of the brain and how much energy does it use in a normal day?

Answer 5

1.2–1.4 kg
20%

Question 6

What are the four uses of the brain?

Answer 6

Prediction
storing information
learning
decision making

Question 7

What are the two uses of the Spinal Cord?

Answer 7

Communicates messages from brain to peripheral nervous system
Information is passed to brain for detailed processing from the senses

Question 8

What are the roles of the Peripheral Nervous System?

Answer 8

this NS extends beyond the CNS
—transmits information from senses to the spinal column and messages from spinal column to the rest of the body.

Question 9

Give an example of the peripheral nervous system and also one of how it operates.

Answer 9

-e.g peripheral vision is vision outside of the central vision
-e.g when moving your foot, a message is sent from the brain, down spinal column and then down to the PNS + muscles.

Question 10

What is the somatic NS of the peripheral NS? (2 things)

Answer 10

-this links to the muscle and controls voluntary movements, as well as communicating sensory information from eyes and ears back to brains somatosensory processing area in parietal lobe.
-open to conscious processing

Question 11

What is the autonomic NS of the peripheral NS?

Answer 11

It transmits and receives unconscious information from organs and stress response system

Question 12

What is the role of the sympathetic nervous system? (Autonomic NS)

Answer 12

This increases the activity of the body’s organs and triggers the acute stress response (fight /flight)

Question 13

What is the role of the parasympathetic nervous system? (Autonomic NS)

Answer 13

Reduces activity of the body’s organs, i.e calming down after fight/ flight.

Question 14

What is homeostasis and when does it occur?

Answer 14

This is when the body is maintained at an optimum level of functioning and occurs when both the sympathetic and parasympathetic NS have been switched off.

Question 15

What are neurons and how many are there averagely in the brain?

Answer 15

They are a network of cells making up the nervous system
The largest number of cells is in the brain, average on 86 billion