Nervous System Key Concepts Flashcards
What does the nervous system include?
Central nervous system and peripheral nervous system
What does the central nervous system include and what is it’s function?
The spinal cord and brain. / And it’s function is to process and coordinate information
What does the peripheral nervous system include and what’s its function?
Includes spinal nerves and cranial nerves / And it’s function is to transfer information to the central nervous system
What does the spinal cord facilitate?
The transfer of information to the brain and from the brain
What do spinal nerves contain?
They contain both sensory neurons and motor neurons and form peripheral nerves that innervate tissues and organs
Clinical utility of spinal nerves
The peripheral distribution of spinal nerves has clinical utility for determining site of injury
A reflex is
A reflex is an automatic involuntary motor response to a specific stimulus
How many steps are involved in a reflex arc?
5
What is a monosynaptic reflex?
A monosynaptic reflex is where a sensory neuron synapses directly onto a motor neuron
Polysynaptic Neurons
Have at least one interneuron between the sensory (afferent) neuron and motor (efferent) neuron
What is more complex the brain or spinal cord?
Brain is much more complex
What has several principal regions, each of which have specific functions?
The brain
The Brain Stem
Is rigidly programmed and essential for survival
What is detected by a receptor?
A stimulus is detected by a receptor and then the information follows a specific neuronal pathway to the somatosensory region of the brain, where it is processed
Receptive fields of receptors
Receptors have different receptive fields and are also able to adapt to a particular stimulus
How many different somatosensory pathways are there?
There are 3 different somatosensory pathways which transfer information to the CNS and which consist of a first-order neuron, second-order neuron and third-order neuron
Where is the third order neuron located?
The third-order neuron is located in the thalamus and acts as a filter to transfer sensory information to specific regions of the somatosensory cortex
Somatic nervous system
The somatic nervous system controls the movement of skeletal muscles and is comprised of mainly 2 neurons
Sensory and motor information processing
involves both primary and association areas
What are the brain and spinal cord protected by?
The spinal cord and brain are protected respectively by the bones of the vertebral column and bones of the cranium
What are the meninges?
The meninges are special membranes that protect and support the spinal cord and brain
Cerebral Spinal fluid’s role
the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) acts as a ‘shock absorber’ and a diffusion medium for dissolved gases, nutrients, chemical messengers and waste products
Blood Brain Barrier
The Blood brain barrier (BBB) isolates neural tissue from the general circulation
