Nervous System Flashcards
(21 cards)
Cranial Cavity
The space inside the skull
Cerebrum
Part of the brain that manages voluntary activity, memory, thinking, and reasoning
Cerebellum
Part of the brain that manages balance, motor functions, and coordination
Medulla
Part of the brain that is responsible for involuntary activities, such as breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, and peristalasis (movement of food through the digestive tract)
Central Nervous System
Brain and spinal cord
Nervous System
Controls functions of the body, made of neurons
Cell body
Contains the nucleus and most of the cytoplasm
Nucleus
Contains genetic material that directs cellular activity
Dentrites
Short branch extensions off the cell body that detect impulses and carry them toward the cell body
Axon
Long fiber that carries impulses away from the cell body
Nodes of Ranvier
gaps between Schwann cells (Myelin sheath) where the impulse jumps from node to node along the axon
Schwann Cells
Makeup the Myelin sheath
Myelin Sheath
Insulating membrane that surrounds the axon
Terminal Branches
End of the nerve cell, send messages out into the synapse (the space between neurons)
Synaptic Knobs
Release neurotransmitters into the synapse to send signal from one neuron to the next
Neurotransmitter
Chemicals released from the synaptic knobs that carry a neuron’s message across the synapse to another neuron
Sensory Neuron
Neurons in the eyes, skin, nose, etc. that detect changes in your environment, and transmit messages to the brain or directly to the spinal cord via interneurons
Interneurons
Neurons that relay messages between sensory and motor neurons. They’re located in the spinal cord and the brain
Motor Neurons
Neurons that are responsible for controlling muscles and glands (effectors)
Effectors
Muscles and Glands controlled by motor neurons
Reflexive Arc
sensory neuron –> interneuron (in the spinal cord) –> motor neuron. Provides a very fast path to get your body out of danger
