Final Flashcards
What is the Brain?
evolutionarily newer more sophisticated regions are piled on top of older, more primitive regions
2 Parts of the Central Nervous System
Brain and Spinal Cord
What are the regions of the brain
a) Forebrain
(i) Cerebrum constitutes about 80% of total brain weight
- cerebral cortex, basal nuclei
(ii) Diencephalon - thalamus, hypothalamus
b) Cerebellum
c) Brainstem - continuous with the spinal cord - medulla, pons, midbrain
What is the Spinal Cord
long cylinder of nerve tissue which extends down from the brainstem to the second lumbar vertebrae.
Explain the spinal cord (dimensions and parts)
45 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. Protected by the vertebral column and associated ligaments and muscles, the spinal meninges and the cerebrospinal fluid.
What does the Peripheral Nervous System consist of?
Consists of 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31 pairs of spinal nerves
What are the Two divisions
Afferent and Efferent
Explain Afferent Division
conveys information from the sensors in the periphery to the central nervous system (CNS)
What are the Two of the nervous systems in Efferent Division?
Autonomic and Somatic
Somatic?
Somatic nervous system - nerve fibers innervate skeletal muscle
Autonomic?
Autonomic nervous system - nerve fibers innervate smooth muscle and cardiac muscle and glands
The two divisions in Autonomic?
(i) sympathetic division – fight or flight
(ii) parasympathetic division – rest and digest
Explain Neuroglia
comprise about 90% of the cells within the CNS. They occupy about half of the volume of the brain. The four major types of glial cells serve as the connective tissue of the CNS and as such help support the neurons both physically and metabolically.
How many neurons and how many neuroglia?
It is estimated that there are 100 billion neurons in the brain and one trillion neuroglia.
What does the nervous system do?
Along with the endocrine system, the nervous system regulates and coordinates the various functions of the body.
Basic structures of the nerve?
Neuron, Cell Body, Axon and Dendrite
What is a Neuron?
a nerve cell. A neuron is specialized to transmit electrical signals.
What is a Cell body?
Cell body - soma - contains the nucleus
What is the Axon?
Axon - a long fiber that conducts impulses away from the cell body. The term “nerve fiber” is often used in reference to an axon.
What is the Dendrite?
Dendrite - short projections from the cell body that transmit impulses toward the cell body
Main purpose of the neuron?
to pass messages (impulses) from one part of the body to another
What is around the axon?
Myelin Sheath - a discontinuous sheath around the axon. It is primarily composed of lipids and proteins.
Nodes of ___?
Nodes of Ranvier - spaces between the segments of myelin sheath –> saltatory conduction
Difference between Myelinated nerve fibres and unmyelinated fibers?
Myelinated nerve fibers have much faster conduction velocities than unmyelinated fibers
What is the Synapse?
the connection of an axon of one nerve to the cell body or dendrites of another nerve.
Saltatory Conduction?
(hop or leap) Signals leaps from node to node
Explain the steps of Multiple Sclerosis?
- Autoimmune disease - body attacks myeline sheath
- Break down in communcation
- Exposed nerves can be destroyed irreversibly
Fatigue, vision changes, numbness, loss of coordination, muscle weakness, cognitive dysfunction
Neurons can be divided into 3 functional classes:
Afferent neurons, Efferent Neurons and Interneurons
Afferent neurons?
carry impulses from the sensory receptors into spinal cord or brain
Efferent neurons?
transmit impulses from the CNS out to the effector organs - muscles (motor neurons) and glands
Interneurons?
lie entirely within the CNS. They account for 99% of all nerve cells.
Each spinal nerve is actually a nerve ___?
Trunk - it contains hundreds of individual afferent and efferent nerve fibers that are bound together by connective tissue sheaths.