Neurobiology and Immunology: Divisions of the Nervous System and Neural Pathways Flashcards
What does the CNS consist of?
The brain and the spinal cord
What does the PNS consist of?
The SNS and ANS
What does the SNS control?
Voluntary actions by skeletal muscles
What does the SNS contain?
Sensory neurons and motor neurons
What do sensory neurons do?
Take impulses from sense organs to the CNS
What do motor neurons do?
Take impulses from the CNS to muscles and glands
What does the ANS control?
Involuntary actions by glands, smooth muscle and cardiac muscle
What does the ANS consist of?
The Sympathetic Nervous System and the Parasympathetic Nervous System which are antagonistic to each other
What does the Sympathetic Nervous System do?
Speeds up heart and breathing rate.
Slows down peristalsis and production of intestinal secretions.
What does the Parasympathetic Nervous System do?
Slows down heart and breathing rate.
Speeds up peristalsis and production of intestinal secretions.
What happens in a converging neural pathway?
Impulses from several neurons travel to a single neuron increasing sensitivity to excitatory or inhibitory signals
What happens in a diverging neural pathway?
Impulses from one neuron travel to several neurons so affecting more than one destination at the same time
What happens in a reverberating neural pathway?
Neurons later in the pathway link with earlier neurons, sending the impulse back through the pathway, allowing repeated stimulation of the pathway
