Levels of organisation in the nervous system

Question 1

What is the nervous system divided into?

Answer 1

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Question 2

What is the CNS divided into?

Answer 2

Brain

Spinal cord

Question 3

What is the PNS sub divisions?

Answer 3

Sensory (afferent) division

Motor (efferent) division

Question 4

What is the sensory (afferent) division made up of?

Answer 4

Somatic sensory neurons

Visceral sensory neurons

Question 5

What is the motor (efferent) division made up of?

Answer 5

Autonomic nervous system (involuntary)

Somatic nervous system (voluntary)

Question 6

What are the 2 divisions of the Autonomic nervous system?

Answer 6

Sympathetic division

Parasympathetic division

Question 7

What is the spinothalamic pathway made up of?

Answer 7

Grey matter
White matter
Ganglion
Nucleus 
Tract
Pathway

Question 8

What is grey matter?

Answer 8

High concentration of nerve cell bodies

Question 9

What is white matter?

Answer 9

High concentration of nerve fibres/axons

Question 10

Why is white matter white?

Answer 10

myelin gives the white appearance

Question 11

What is ganglion?

Answer 11

Collection of nerve cells in CNS with particular function

Question 12

What is a tract?

Answer 12

Nerve axons belonging to neurones of the same functional type (e.g. spinothalamic tract)

Question 13

What is a pathway?

Answer 13

Collective set of neurons in conveying a signal from periphery to the cortex

Question 14

What are spinothalamic neurons?

Answer 14

Long axon up to the brain terminates at the thalamus

Question 15

What is the spinothalamic tract?

Answer 15

Sensory pathway from skin to the thalamus

Question 16

What is the PNS formed of?

Answer 16

Afferent (sensory) and efferent (motor) nerve fibres

Question 17

Where do the nerve fibres from the PNS emerge?

Answer 17

From brain and spinal cord and innervate every structure in the body

Question 18

How many cranial nerves arise from the base of the brain?

Answer 18

12 pairs

Question 19

What do these cranial nerves from the base of the brain innervate?

Answer 19

Head (including special sense organs)

Question 20

Are cranial nerves specific?

Answer 20

Yes, some are purely sensory, some are purely motor

Question 21

Where does the vagus nerve also innervate?

Answer 21

Some organs of the upper body e.g. heart

Question 22

How many pairs of spinal nerves are there?

Answer 22

33 pairs

Question 23

What do the spinal nerves innervate?

Answer 23

Remainder of the body

Question 24

Where do afferent/sensory axons end?

Answer 24

Sensory receptors

Question 25

Where do efferent/motor fibres end?

Answer 25

In effectors (muscle)

Question 26

What are spinal nerves?

Answer 26

Elongation of the brain

Question 27

What are spinal nerve dermatomes?

Answer 27

Skin areas innervated by a single spinal nerve

Question 28

What do spinal nerves do before reaching the spinal cord?

Answer 28

Divide into Dorsal root and ventral root

Question 29

What is the dorsal root?

Answer 29

Sensory (afferent) fibres (cell bodies= dorsal root ganglion)

Question 30

What is the ventral root?

Answer 30

Motor (efferent) fibres (cell bodies= motonucleus)

Question 31

What shape is the cross section of the spinal cord?

Answer 31

Butterfly shaped grey matter

Question 32

What is the dorsal horn?

Answer 32

Mainly sensory

Question 33

What is the ventral horn?

Answer 33

Mainly motor

Question 34

What is in the outer white matter?

Answer 34

Ascending and descending axons

Question 35

What is the brain split into?

Answer 35

Brainstem and Forebrain

Question 36

What is the Brainstem?

Answer 36

Most primitive part of the brain- vital function | Brain stem reticular formation e.g. arousal vs. sleep

Question 37

What is the brainstem split into?

Answer 37

Hindbrain and midbrain

Question 38

What makes up the hindbrain?

Answer 38

Cerebellum Pons Medulla

Question 39

What makes up the midbrain?

Answer 39

Tectum

Question 40

What is the cerebellum?

Answer 40

Involved in motor control e.g. coordination and motor learning

Question 41

What is the pons?

Answer 41

Largely white matter- connections between cortex and spinal cord, cortex and cerebellum

Question 42

What is the medulla?

Answer 42

Relay nuclei for sensory pathways from spinal cord and cranial nerve and for descending pathways Contains autonomic control centres

Question 43

What is the tectum made up of?

Answer 43

Optic and auditory tectum

Question 44

What is the optic tectum?

Answer 44

Visual input

Question 45

What is the auditory tectum?

Answer 45

Auditory input

Question 46

What is the orientation reaction in the tectum?

Answer 46

Head and eye movements to foveate moving objects in peripheral visual field or look in direction of source of sound

Question 47

What is the Forebrain?

Answer 47

Responsible for higher sensory, motor and cognitive functions

Question 48

What makes up the forebrain?

Answer 48

Diencephalon | Telencephalon

Question 49

What makes up the diencephalon?

Answer 49

Thalamus (relay nucleus) Hypothalamus Basal ganglia

Question 50

What makes up the telencephalon?

Answer 50

Cortex

Question 51

What is the thalamus?

Answer 51

Group of sensory relay nuclei projecting to cortex | Pathways serving vision, audition, olfaction, taste and somatic

Question 52

What is the hypothalamus?

Answer 52

Control of autonomic functions

Question 53

What is the basal ganglia?

Answer 53

Control of movement | 3 sets of nucleus- Sub thalamic nucleus, caudate nucleus, thalamus