Nervous System Flashcards
What are somatic afferent pathways?
Convey info from receptors on skin and somatic tissue. Excludes special receptors of eye and inner ear.
Concerned with touch, pressure, vibration, temp., pain, and kinesthetic sensations. Primary neuron for this is located in dorsal root ganglia of spinal nerves.
Broken into lemniscal (two large ascending pathways allowing for high degree of spatial descrimination) and extralemniscal systems (characterised by slower propogation and less precise localisation of stimuli).
Special somatic afferent pathways are visual, vestibular, auditory.
What are nerves?
Bundles of axons made up of neurons
What are ganglia?
Clusters of neuronal cell bodies.
Form visible swellings on peripheral nerves.
What is white matter?
Made of axons connecting different parts of grey matter to each other. Nerve fibres or nerve tracts.
White colour is from the presence of myelin - insulates.
What is grey matter?
Contains the cell bodies, dendrites and axon terminals of neurons. Synapses occur here.
What is the afferent NS?
Sensory, impulses away from peripheral receptors, towards the CNS.
What is the efferent NS?
Motor, impulses exit the CNS, towards effectors.
What does somatic mean?
skeletal
What does visceral mean?
organs
What are somatic motor pathways?
Regulated by upper and lower motor neurons.
Lower and located in ventral column of grey matter within spinal cord and within somatic motor nuclei of certain cranial nerves.
Upper motor neurons involved in more complex reflexes and initiate voluntary movements. Located within motor area of neopallium and other regions of brain, including reticular formation and red nucleus. Upper motor neurons exert control via excitation or inhibition of lower motor neurons rather than acting directly on muscle fibres.
What is the pyramidal system?
originates from neurons in neopallium, appear as pyramids of medulla oblongata.
Three fibre groups, in dogs, 50% terminate on cervical segments of spinal cord.
Extra pyramidal system - includes all areas of the brain invovled in regulating motor functions that are not inluded in the pyramid system.
Cerebellum controls both of these systems.
The central nervous system consists of?
Brain (encephalon) and spinal cord (medulla spinalis).
The peripheral nervous system consists of?
Autonomic NS - involuntary reactions
Somatic NS - voluntary reactions, skeletal muscle.
Spinal nerves
Cranial nerves
What is the functional unit of the nervous system? What are its components?
Neuron.
Divided into; cell body (perikaryon), dendrites (transmit signals towards perikaryon), axons (conveys impulse away from perikaryon), axon terminal, neuroglial cells (supportive, provide nutrients to neuron).
Can be multipolar (multiple branches), bipolar (two branches), or pseudounipolar (cell body joined to individual branch that then joins another branch, T section).
What are the components of nerves?
Sensory end (sensation receptors), integration centre (brain and spinal cord), and effectors (skeletal muscle and visceral organs). Nerve cell is polarised.
Discuss the stimulus response apparatus.
Five elements arranged in a series; receptor region, afferent neuron, synapse, efferent neuron, effector.
Can be interneurons - one or more additional neurons interposed in the chain between afferent and efferent neurons.
Knee jerk/patella reflex is an example of a primary, elementary, or monosynaptic reflex arc (one afferent and one efferent).
What is neuroglia?
Supporting tissue of the brain and spinal cord.
Supports neurons, assists in nutrition and neurotransmission. Prevents leakage of signals.
Draw a diagram giving an overview of organisation of the nervous system.
CNS (brain and spinal cord) outputs to the Efferent division of the Peripheral NS. CNS receives inputs from afferent division of the Peripheral NS (cranial, spinal, autonomic nerve trunks and ganglia).
Afferent division has inputs from sensory stimuli and visceral stimuli (both ascending impulses).
Efferent (F off-high to low) division sends impulses to the Somatic Nervous system and the Autonomic NS.
Somatic NS feeds down to motor neurons and then skeletal muscle (effector organs).
ANS feeds down to sympathetic and parasympathetic NS which then affect smooth and cardiac muscle as well as glands (all effector organs as well).
Describe the anatomy of the autonomic nervous system.
Broken into parasympathetic (rest and digest) and sympathetic (fright, flight, fight).
Describe an efferent nerves anatomy.
Preganglionic neuron runs from CNS into PNS, synapses at the autonomic ganglion with the post ganglionic neuron.
Post ganglionic neuron acts on effector organs (cardiac, smooth muscle, glands, adipose tissue).
What is the somatic nervous system comprised of?
One ganglion connecting spinal cord to muscle.
What is different about PNS fibres?
They have a long preganglionic fibre (from brain stem or spinal cord) and short postganglionic fibre.
Can also be called Cranio-Sacral NS.
What are some common parasympathetic pathways?
Oculomotor (III)
Facial (VII)
Glossopharyngeal (IX)
Para - runs parallel to sympathtic
Describe the anatomy of the sympathetic NS.
Pre-ganglionic fibres run from thoracic and lumbar spinal cord.
Ganglia can be arranged in 3 anatomical patterns; sympathetic chain, adrenal medulla, collateral ganglia.
Also called Thoraco-lumbar NS (due to area it originates from).
Connects to visceral organs via middle cervical, cervicothoracic, celiac, celiac mesenteric plexus, caudal mesenteric ganglions, and hypogastric nerve.
What are the important components of the sympathetic nervous system within the thoracic cavity?
Ansa subclavia - branches from cervicothoracic ganglia to the middle cervical ganglia.
Middle cervical ganglia - present just cranial to the heart base (pulmonary veins).
Cervicothoracic ganglia - present dorsal to the middle cervical ganglia.
Vagosympathetic trunk - cranial to the middle cervical ganglia.
Thoracic ganglia - caudal to the cervicothoracic ganglia.
What are the important components of the sympathetic NS in the abdominal cavity?
Splanchnic nerve Celiac ganglia Cranial mesenteric ganglia Caudal mesenteric ganglia Renal ganglia Gonadal ganglia
What are the different classes of spinal nerves?
Cervical Thoracic Lumbar Brachial plexus Lumbo-sacral plexus
What are the cranial nerves?
I - olfacotry - special sensory II - optic - special snesory III - oculomotor - motor IV - trochlear - motor V - trigeminal - mixed VI - abducent - motor VII - facial - mixed VIII - vestibulocochlear - special sensory IX - glossopharyngeal - mixed X - vagus - mixed XI - accessory (spinal) - motor XII - hypoglossal - motor On Occasion Our Trusty Truck Acts Funny, Very Good Vehicle Any How. Some Say Marry Money But My Brother Says Big Brains Matter More (B=both)
What is the spinal cord?
Cylindrical dorse-ventrally flattened cord.
Runs from foramen magnum (opening at base of skull) to sacrum/coccygeal.
Divisions are; cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, coccygeal/caudal.
Meningis wraps around cord and provides protection.
CSF provides nutrients.
At bottom there is a lumbar intumescense (swelling) before it divides into the conus medullaris, filum terminale, and cauda equinae.
Describe the transverse section of the spinal cord.
Central canal bordered by the central grey matter (H shape). Outer white matter.
Dorsal root fibres run from small wings of H.
Ventral root fibres run from large wings f H.
Ventral median fissure (line down centre)
Dorsal horn (small wings of H)
Ventral horn (large wings of H)
Dorsal funiculus (white matter in between H on dorsal side).
Ventral funiculus (white matter between H on ventral side)
Lateral funiculus (white matter on both lateral sides)
Dorsal root ganglion (are where dorsal and ventral root fibres meet outside of the cord.
Spinal ganglia form spinal nerve and exit from intervertebral foramen.
What fibres does the dorsal horn contain dorsomedially?
somatic afferent
What fibres does the dorsal horn contain dorsolaterally?
visceral afferent
What does the grey matter of the spinal cord contain?
Somatic efferent neurons located ventrally, and visceral efferent neurons which form additional lateral horn in thoracolumbar and sacral regions.
Which plate do dorsal horns correspond to?
alar plate - somatic afferent and visceral afferent neurons
Which plate do ventral horns correspond to?
basal plate - somatic efferent and visceral efferent.
What are the divisions of the white matter in the spinal cord?
3 funiculi on each side;
Dorsal funiculus - between shallow dorsal sulcus, extends deeply by median glial septum, and dorsal root of spinal nerves (right at top, next to ventral fissure).
Lateral funiculus - between lines of dorsal and ventral roots.
Ventral funiculus - between lines of ventral roots and ventral fissure.
What are funiculi?
Nerve tracts - contain ascending and descending tracts of nerve fibres. Grouped within bundles (fasciculi/tracts) of common origin, destination and function.
What are the 4 primary derivatives of the neural tube?
Prosencephalon (front brain)
Mesencephalon (mid brain)
Rhombencephalon (hind brain)
Remainder of neural tube
What are the 2 subdivisions of the prosencephalon and their derivates and lumen?
Telencephalon (outer) - cerebral cortex, limbic system, basal nuclei (aggregation of ganglia) - lateral ventricles and corpus cascosum, hippocampus (caudate nuclei).
Diencephalon (inter) - epithalamus (above), thalamus (middle), hypothalamus (below) - third ventricle.
Are their any subdivisions of the mesencephalon?
No, but the major derivatives are;
Tectum (corpora quadrigemina) - 4 structures (2 rostral colliculi and 2 caudal colliculi).
Tegmentum (mid section)
Cerebral peduncles (feet).
Lumen for all of these is the cerebral aqueduct.