Nervous System Flashcards
2 main components of the nervous system
Central nervous system
Peripheral nervous system
The brain in the CNS
Conscious awareness, many regions which are responsible for different functions
EG. 4 main lobes
Occipital lobe - visual information
Temporal lobe- auditory information
Parietal lobe- Intergrates information from different senses
Frontal lobe- higher order functions
Spinal cord in the CNS
Transfer messages to and from brain and rest of body, simple reflux actions.
Somatic nervous system in the PNS
Made up of Sensory receptors- carry information to spinal cord and brain, motor pathways allow brain to control movement
Carry sensory information from outside world to brain
Autonomic nervous system in the PNS
Important role in homeostasis ( maintain internal processes like body temp heart rate)
Consist of motor pathways
2 components- sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system
Sympathetic nervous system
Prepare body for fight or flight
Help prepare for action when in a dangerous situation
Parasympathetic nervous system
Relax the body and return us to our “normal” resting state
Slows down our heart rate and breathing rate, reduce blood pressure
Similarities of brain and spinal cord
Both control involuntary processes (eg. Breathing and reflexes)
Differences of brain and spinal cord
Brain has conscious awareness and allow higher order thinking, spinal cord simple reflex responses
Brain has multiple regions, spinal cord one main function
Similarities of somatic/ autonomic and sympathetic/parasympathetic
Sympathetic and somatic respond to external stimuli
- sympathetic prepared for fight or flight
- somatic carrying information from sensory receptors to spinal cord
Difference of somatic/autonomic and sympathetic/ parasympathetic
Autonomic has 2 sub components whereas somatic had one
Somatic have sensory and motor pathways, autonomic only have motor pathways
Autonomic controls internal organs and glands, somatic controls muscles and movement
