Nervous System Flashcards
What is the central nervous system (CNS)?
The brain and spinal cord.
What does CNS stand for?
Central Nervous System
What is the peripheral nervous system?
The nerve cells that carry information to or from the CNS.
What is another name for the Nerve Cells?
Neurones.
What do Nerve Cells/Nurones do?
They carry electrical impulses from one place to another:
What are Receptors?
Receptors are groups of specialised cells. They can detect a change in the environment (stimulus) and produce electrical impulses in response.
What are the sense organs and how do they notice stimuli?
Skin, Tounge, Nose, Ear, Eye - Touch/temperature -
Chemicals (in food and drink, for example)
- Chemicals (in the air, for example) - Light -Sound/Effectors
What are Effectors?
Effectors are parts of the body - such as muscles and glands - that produce a response to a detected stimulus.
What is a Reflex action?
A reflex action is a way for the body to automatically and rapidly respond to a stimulus to minimise any further damage to the body.
How does the body do a reflex action?
The nerve pathway followed by a reflex action is called a reflex arc. This is caused, for example, if you touch something hot, your hand will move away.
What are Antagonistic pairs?
Muscles work in antagonistic pairs. This ensures that when a part of the body is moved, it can move back to its original position.
What is a synapse?
A synapse is the gap in-between two nurones.
How is information sent through the synapse?
Information crosses this gap using neurotransmitters, rather than using electrical impulses.
