Module 10 - The Nervous and Endocrine Systems

Question 1

Nervous System

Answer 1

The body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems

Question 2

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Answer 2

The brain and spinal cord

Question 3

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Answer 3

The sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body

Question 4

Nerves

Answer 4

Bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs

Question 5

Neuron

Answer 5

A nerve cell

Question 6

Sensory Neurons (efferent)

Answer 6

Neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands

Question 7

Motor Neurons (afferent)

Answer 7

Neurons that carry incoming information from the body’s tissues and sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord

Question 8

Interneurons

Answer 8

Neurons within the brain and spinal cord. Interneurons communicate with one another and process information between the sensory inputs and motor outputs; they connect the spinal motor and sensory neurons.

Question 9

Somatic Nervous System (skeletal nervous system)

Answer 9

The division of the peripheral nervous system which controls the body’s skeletal muscles

Question 10

Automatic Nervous System (ANS)

Answer 10

The part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms

Question 11

Sympathetic Nervous System

Answer 11

The division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy

Question 12

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Answer 12

The division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy

Question 13

Reflex

Answer 13

A simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk reflex

Question 14

Endocrine System

Answer 14

The body’s “slow” chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

Question 15

Hormones

Answer 15

Chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues

Question 16

Adrenal Glands

Answer 16

A pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones (ephinephrine and norepinephrine; adrenaline and noradrenaline, respectively) that help arouse the body in times of stress

Question 17

Pituitary Gland

Answer 17

The endocrine system’s most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands

Question 18

Why is the pituitary gland called the “master gland”?

Answer 18

It releases hormones that trigger other endocrine glands to secrete hormones

Question 19

How are the nervous system and endocrine system alike, and how do they differ?

Answer 19

They both produce chemical molecules that act on the body’s receptors to influence our behavior and emotions. The endocrine system delivers messages much more slowly than the nervous system, though its effects tend to last longer.