Nervous System Vocab Flashcards
neuron process that carries impulses away from the nerve cell body; efferent process; the conducting portion of a nerve cell.
Axon
nerve cells that carry impulses toward the central nervous system.
Afferent neuron
the brain and the spinal cord.
Central nervous system
Each of the two parts of the cerebrum (left and right) in the brain of a vertebrate.
Cerebral hemisphere
the branching extensions of neurons that carry electrical signals to the cell body; the receptive portion of a nerve cell.
Dendrites
neurons that conduct impulses away from the central nervous system.
Efferent neuron
the gray area of the central nervous system; contains unmyelinated nerve fibers and nerve cell bodies.
Gray matter
the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.
Meninges
bundle of neuronal processes (axons) outside the central nervous system.
Nerve
cells of the nervous system specialized to transmit messages throughout the body.
Neurons
a system of nerves that connects the outlying parts of the body with the central nervous system.
Peripheral nervous system
the state of an unstimulated neuron or muscle cell in which the inside of the cell is relatively negative in comparison to the outside; the resting state.
Polarization
automatic reaction to a stimulus.
Reflex
a division of the peripheral nervous system; also called the voluntary nervous system.
Somatic nervous system
white substance of the central nervous system; the myelinated nerve fibers.
White matter
the division of the nervous system that functions involuntarily; innervates cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and glands.
Autonomic nervous system
the portion of the brain consisting of the medulla, pons, and midbrain.
Brain stem
part of the hindbrain; involved in producing smoothly coordinated skeletal muscle activity.
Cerebellum
the fluid produced by choroid plexuses; fills the ventricles and surrounds the central nervous system.
Cerebrospinal fluid
the loss of a state of polarity; the loss of a negative charge inside the plasma membrane.
Depolarization
a group of nerve cell bodies located in the peripheral nervous system.
Ganglion
completes the pathway between afferent and efferent neurons; also called an association neuron.
Interneurons
a white, fatty lipid substance.
Myelin
the nonneuronal tissue of the central nervous system that performs supportive and other functions; also called glia.
Neuroglia
A gap in the myelin sheath of a nerve, between adjacent Schwann cells.
Nodes of Ranvier
a network of interlacing nerves, blood vessels, or lymphatics.
Plexus
a peripheral nerve ending specialized for response to particular types of stimuli
Receptor
restoration of the membrane potential to the initial resting (polarized) state.
Repolarization
the region of communication between neurons, or a neuromuscular junction between a neuron and a muscle cell.
Synapse
