Nervous System Flashcards
What is the stoma?
The metabolic centre of the neuron.
What are dendrites?
Processes that receive signals.
What is the axon?
It carries the electrical message away from the cell body to other cells.
What is the axon hillock?
It connects to the axon and is where action potential begins.
What are axon terminals?
Branches that reach out into the synaptic terminals and the site of neurotransmission.
Bipolar Neurons
1 axon end, 1 dendrite end
Unipolar Neurons
1 process containing both axon and dendrites
Pseudo-Unipolar Neuron
1 process with splits into 2
Multipolar Neuron
At least 3 processes
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals that are released and picked up by receptors on the dendrites of neurons.
What do neurotransmitters do?
Provoke excitatory, inhibitory or modulatory responses.
What are the 4 main neurotransmitters?
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid/ GABA (inhibitory)
Glutamate (excitatory)
Acetylcholine (inhibitory/excitatory)
Glycine (inhibitory)
Glial Cells- What is an oligodendrocyte?
Cells responsible for providing the myelin sheath
Glial Cells- What is an astrocyte?
They anchor and brace the neurons.
They provide nutrient supply.
They regulate the external environment.
Glial Cells- What are microglia?
They clean up neural debris.
They detect and monitor health of the neuron.
Glial Cells- What are ependymal cells?
The line the ventricles and the central canal of the brain and spinal cord to help circulate cerebrospinal fluid.
Peripheral Glial Cells- What are satellite cells?
They help to regulate the external environment.
They aid in tissue repair.
Peripheral Glial Cells- What are Schwann Cells?
They provide the insulating myelin sheath.
CNS- What does the brain do?
Complex function.
Processes sensory information.
Coordinates movements and bodily functions.
CNS- What does the spinal cord do?
Sends signals to a from the brain and the rest of the body.
It can control some musco-skeletal reflexes without the brain.
What is grey matter?
Contains cell bodies.
What is white matter?
Contains myelinated axons.
What is the peripheral nervous system?
An extensive network of nerves, containing sensory, motor and interneurons.
It connects the CNS to organs, skin and the limbs.
What are afferent nerves?
Signals towards the CNS from the skin.
What are efferent nerves?
Signals from the spinal cord to muscle.
What is the somatic system?
The voluntary nervous system.
Controls skeletal muscle.
What is the autonomic system?
The involuntary nervous system.
Controls organs and glands.
Has 2 branches- sympathetic and parasympathetic.
