Nervous System Flashcards
Neuron
Basic unit of the nervous system
Carry information through the nervous system in a form called an impulse
3 parts: cell body, dendrites, and axon
Dendrites
Receive impulses and bring them to the cell body
Cell body
Where the nucleus and most of the organelles are located
Axon
Carries impulses away from the cell body towards other neurons, muscles, and glands
Myelin sheath
Covers the axon
Allows the impulse to travel faster
3 types of neurons
Sensory
Motor
Inter neurons
Sensory neurons
Carry messages from your body to your brain or spinal cord
Motor neurons
Carry messages from your brain to your body
Inter neurons
Carry messages in your brain
The nervous system —- and —– incoming information before —————
Sorts
Interprets
Directing a response
The myelin sheath allows for impulses to be quickly ———-
Carried over long distances
White matter
Matter in the brain covered in myelin sheath
Gray matter
Matter in the brain not covered with sheath
Do neurons touch?
No but they lie end to end
Synapse
Gap between the neurons
When an impulse reaches the end of a neuron, the neuron releases ——- which move across the gap between the neurons
Neurotransmitter
The neurotransmitters then activate the — of the next neuron
Dendrite
Central nervous system
Control center of the nervous system
Coordinates all of your body’s activities
Brain and spine
Brain
Control center of the entire nervous system
Three parts of the brain
Cerebrum
Cerebellum
Brainstem
Cerebrum
Controls your conscious activities including intelligence, memory, language, skeletal muscles movements, and your senses
Cerebellum
Controls balance, posture, and coordination
If you injure your cerebellum, your movements become jerky
Brainstem
Made up of three parts: medulla oblongata, the pons and midbrain
Medulla oblongata
Controls breathing and heart rate
Pons and midbrain
Coordinate the brain’s messages
Spinal cord
Made of neurons and bundles of axons that pass impulses to and from the brain
The cerebrum has —- lobes or sections
4
Frontal lobe
Controls reasoning, planning, emotions, problem solving, and smell
Parietal lobe
Controls touch, pressure, temperature, pain, and taste
Temporal lobe
Controls hearing, memory, and speech
Broca’s area
Occipital lobe
Controls vision
Peripheral nervous system
Made up of all of the nerves that carry messages to and from the central nervous system
Together, the CNS and the PNS respond to things that..
Happen in the outside environment
There are 2 parts to the PNS:
Somatic and autonomic nervous systems
Somatic nervous system
Carries information between your skin, the CNS, and your muscles
Voluntary
Sometimes a stimulus results in an automatic response called a reflex
Autonomic Nervous system
Carries impulses from the CNS to your internal organs
Involuntary
There are 2 parts of the autonomic nervous system:
Sympathetic and parasympathetic
Sympathetic nervous system
In control when you are stressed such as when you are running, or when something scares you (fight or flight response)
Parasympathetic nervous system
In control when you are resting, such as when you are sleeping or sitting down
Both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems send signals to the same ——–
Internal organs
Nerve
A collection of axons pulled together with blood vessels and connective tissue
Sensory nerves
Conduct sensory information from their receptors to the CNS where the information is then processed
Motor nerves
Conduct signals from the CNS to muscles
Nervous system
Controls us by sending messages and receiving messages to and from the brain
