Nervous System Flashcards
What is the Central Nervous System made up of?
the brain and spinal cord
What does the central nervous system do?
It’s the body’s control centre, that coordinates the body’s voluntary and involuntary actitivies
What is the Peripheral Nervous System made up of?
motor neurones, sensory neurones and other nerve cells
Name the 2 subdivisions of the Peripheral Nervous System
Somatic Nervous System
Autonomic Nervous System
What does the autonomic nervous system do?
it controls automatic body actions, e.g. breathing and heart rate, by conducting nerve impulses to and from the central nervous system
What are the 2 parts of the autonomic nervous system?
the sympathetic nervous system
the parasympathetic nervous system
What is the role of the sympatheic nervous system?
it prepares the body for dealing with emergencies by increasing heart and breathing rates, dilating blood vessels, stimulating sweat glands and decreasing gastrointestinal activities
What is the role of the parasympathetic nervous system?
it balanced the actions of the sympathetic nervous system by creating conditions for rest and sleep
Name the different parts of a motor neuron
cell body, nucleus, dendrites, axon, (covered with the myelin sheath, which is formed of schwann cells)
How does the nervous system controls voluntary activities
a sensory receptor cell detects information (e.g. hand touches a hot plate). They send a message to the CNS (brain/spinal cord), which then sends an impulse down the motor neurons towards the effector cells (muscles) (e.g.to move our hand away)
How does a nervous impulse pass from one neuron to another?
neurons are separated by a small gap called a synaptic cleft.
when an impulse gets to the end of 1 neuron, calcium channels open so calcium can flow into the end of the neuron, this triggers synpatic vesicles to release neurotransmitters which can pass across the synpati cleft and bind to receptors on the next neuron, causing the impulse to continue through the next neruon
Identify 3 disorders of the nervous system
Parkinson’s Disease
Multiple Sclerosis
Dementia
What is Parkinson’s Disease
Where the levels of dopamine fall due to damaged nerve cells in the brain, which afffects muscle movements
What are the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease?
tremors
stiff muscles
slow, jerky movements
What is Multiple Sclerosis?
a disease in which the myelin sheath breaks up in patchy areas, so nervous impulses can’t pass through properly
