Nervous System Flashcards
What are the two parts of the nervous system?
Central nervous system ( CNS)
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
What is the CNS made up of?
Made up of the brain and spinal cord
What is the PNS made up of?
Made up of nerves. Two classes: cranial nerves (direct from the brain), and spinal nerves (come from the spinal cord)
What two directions does nerves in the PNS send impulses?
1) Into the brain > come from sensory organs SENSORY SYSTEM (sensory neurons)
2) out from the brain > come from the motor area in the brain, and control body movement by voluntary muscle activity MOTOR SYSTEM (motor neurons)
What are neurons?
Cells of the nervous system. They are specialised cell which transmits nerve impulses – a nerve cell
What happens in the synapse?
A structure which allows neurons to pass an electrical signal to another neuron or to the target effector cell (from one neurons axon to another neurons dendrite)
Receptors allow the neurotransmitter to attach to the dendrite
What is an axon?
Nerve fibre of a neuron
What is a receptor?
A specialised cells which detect a change in stimulus and create electrical impulses in response
What are the four parts of the brain?
1) The frontal lobe
2) The temporal lobe
3) The parietal lobe
4) The occipital lobe
What is the cerebellum?
Another part of the brain, at the back of the skull in vertebrates. It receives electrical impulses from the sensory system, and regulates the motor movement.
What is in front of the cerebellum? What does it do?
The brain stem.
It controls flow of messages between the brain and the rest of the body
What is grey matter and where is it?
outer surface of the brain is grey matter. Made up of millions of neurons.
What is white matter and where is it?
Inside of the brain is white matter. Made up of fat
What is the thalamus?
A sensory replay station, passing all of the information to the correct area of the cerebrum
What is cerebrospinal fluid?
It is a type of fat in myelin, it is white matter
