Nervous System Flashcards
What are the three functions of the nervous system?
- detect changes in internal, external environments
- integrates info, make unconscious and conscious decisions
- stimulates muscles and glands to respond
What are the two divisions within the nervous system?
- central nervous system (CNS) - brain & spinal cord, analyze & coordinates
- peripheral nervous system (PNS) - sensory/afferent division & motor/efferent division
What is the job of the sensory division?
-receives input from special senses (eyes, ears, nose, mouth), from internal organs (visceral sensory neurons), and from joints and skeletal muscle (somatic sensory neurons)
What is the job of the motor division?
- sends commands
- 2 parts: autonomic nervous system, somatic motor neurons
What is the autonomic nervous system?
- mostly involuntary
- sympathetic (fight or flight) to cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, glands
- parasympathetic (rest or digest) to skeletal muscle
What is the role of somatic motor neurons?
-mostly voluntary
What are the special characteristics of neurons?
- long-lived - entire lifetime
- amniotic - can’t divide
- high metabolic rate: needs lots of “food”: oxygen, and glucose
What are neurons made of?
-dendrites, cell body, dendritic spines, axons
What is the S&F of dendrites?
-dendrites: highly branched processes (stick out) that receive information
What is the S&F of dendritic spines?
-increase surface area to receive information
What is the S&F of the cell body?
-cell body: soma: large to produce neurotransmitters, clusters of cells in CNS are called nuclei, clusters of cells in PNS are called ganglia
What is the S&F of axons?
- length varies
- may be myelinated to increase the speed of impulse transmission
- may have collateral branches = side branches
- synaptic knobs at the end hold vesicles with NT
- axons wrapped in connective tissue
What are the types of connective tissue that cover the axons?
- endoneurium: covers single axon; has capillaries
- perineurium: covers bundles of axons (nerve fascicles) has arteries and veins
- epineurium: covers bundles of nerve fascicles
What are bundles of axons called in the CNS and PNS?
CNS: tract
PNS: nerve
What are the types of neurons?
- multipolar
- bipolar
- unipolar
- anaxonic
What are the characteristics of a multipolar neuron?
- many dendrites, 1 long axon
- mostly common in CNS, all motor neurons
What are the characteristics of a bipolar neuron?
- 1 dendrite, 1 axon
- rare, special sense organs
What are the characteristics of a unipolar neuron?
- dendrites continuous with the axon
- sensory neurons in the PNS
- cell body in dorsal root ganglion
What are the characteristics of a anaxonic axon?
-can’t distinguish dendrites and axons
What is the classification by function for sensory neurons?
- mostly unipolar
- carry info from sensory organs/receptors to CNS
- eg. exteroceptors: info from outside: touch, vision, sight
- eg. interoceptors: monitor internal organs
- eg. proprioceptors: monster muscle and joint position
What is the classification by function for interneurons?
- mostly multipolar and found in CNS but some anaxonic
- between sensory and motor neurons
- integrate info
What is the classification by function for motor neurons?
- ALL multipolar but the cell bodies are in the CNS
- carry info to muscles and glands
What is a characteristic of neuroglia?
-smaller than the neurons but also outnumber them 10:1
What are the 4 types of neuroglia in the CNS?
-astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, ependymal cells
What is the S&F of astrocytes?
- most common, star-shaped
- surround to maintain blood-brain barrier and control transport of the material into the interstitial fluid
- create supportive network for neuron
- recycle NT
- guides neuronal migration in the embryo (growth)
What is the S&F of microglia?
- small cells with “thorny” processes
- defend and remove debris (no WBC in CNS)
What is the S&F of oligodendrocytes?
- processes wrap around portions of multiple CNS axons
- to myelinated/insulate axons to increase the speed of action potential
What is the S&F of ependymal cells?
- look like epithelial
- ciliated cells joined to tight junctions
- lines ventricles of the brain, central canal of spinal cord
- produce, monitor, circulate, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF)
What are the two types of neuroglia in the PNS?
- schwann cells
- satellite cells
What is the S&F of Schwann cells?
- whole cells wrapped around part of one axon = myeline axon –> AP travels 150x faster
- many Schwann cells needed to myeline 1 axon
- adjacent Schwann cells don’t touch (gap= node of Ranvier
- AP is propagated at nodes of Ranvier
- demyelination results in less sensation and control = MS
- Schwann cells also guide axon growth during neuron repair
What is the S&F of satellite cells?
- surround cell bodies in ganglia
- help regulate the environment around the neurons
What is the resting potential?
-difference in voltage (+,-) across the membrane when the cell is at rest