Nervous System 1 - Introduction Flashcards
Identify the subdivisions of the nervous system?
List the basic functions of the nervous system?
Sensory Input:
Sensory receptors detect internal & external stimuli.
Integration:
Processes and interprets sensory input and decides what should be done at each moment.
Motor Output:
The nervous system causes an appropriate response by activating effector organs (muscles and/or glands).
What is the role of sensory & afferent neurons?
Sensory afferent neurons:
Carry this information via the cranial and spinal nerves to the brain and spinal cord.
Motor afferent neurons:
Motor efferent neurons carry this information from the brain and spinal cord to effector organs via the cranial and spinal nerves.
Label this image of the nervous system?
What is the role of the CNS and where is it located?
Role:
The command centre of the nervous system that integrates and processes nervous information.
Location:
Protected by the dorsal body cavities:
- Brain is housed within the skull, - Spinal cord is housed within the vertebral canal.
What does the CNS include and where are they located?
Nuclei:
- Collections of specialised neuronal cell bodies.
- Located within the grey matter of the brain and spinal cord.
Fibre tracts:
- Bundles of axons within the white matter of the brain and spinal cord.
What are nerves within the PNS and how many pairs of nerves are there in the body?
Nerves:
- Bundles of axons that extend from the brain (cranial nerves) and spinal cord (spinal nerves).
- 12 pairs of cranial nerves exiting from the skull foramina.
- 31 pairs of spinal nerves exiting from the intervertebral foramina.
What are plexuses?
- Plexuses are networks of nerves.
- Main plexuses = cervical, brachial, lumbar, sacral and enteric.
- Plexuses give off terminal branches that innervate body structures.
What is ganglia, where are they located and what are their function?
What is ganglia:
Collections of neuronal cell bodies located outside the CNS.
Location:
Found throughout the body.
Function:
Carry nerve signals to and from the CNS.
What is the sensory (afferent) nervous system responsible for?
Detects stimuli and transmits information from sensory receptors to the CNS.
***Afferent = input.
What are the 2 subdivisions of the sensory nervous system?
Somatic sensory subdivision.
Autonomic (visceral) sensory subdivision.
What is the somatic sensory subdivision responsible for and what is its main function?
- Responsible for sensory input that is consciously perceived from sensory receptors
*** Voluntary functions.
What are examples of what the somatic sensory subdivision transmits?
- The general somatic senses (touch, pressure, vibration, temperature and proprioception).
- The special senses (vision, hearing, balance and smell).
What is the autonomic (visceral) sensory subdivision responsible for and what is its main function?
- Responsible for sensory input that is not consciously perceived from sensory receptors in viscera.
*** Involuntary functions.
What are examples of what the autonomic (visceral) sensory subdivision transmits?
- Stretch of an organ wall (e.g. wall).
What is the motor (efferent) nervous system responsible for?
Responsible for transmitting motor impulses from the CNS to effectors (muscles or glands).
***Efferent = output.
What are the 2 subdivisions of the motor (efferent) nervous system?
Somatic motor subdivision
Autonomic (visceral) motor subdivision
What is the somatic motor division responsible for and what is its main general function?
- Responsible for motor output that is consciously or voluntarily controlled.
*** Voluntary functions.