Peripheral Nervous System Flashcards
What is the function of the nervous system?
Coordinates voluntary and involuntary actions and transmits signals between different parts of the body
What is the function of the neuroglia?
Separate and protect neurons and provide a supportive framework
What is the CNS responsible for?
integrating, processing, and coordinating sensory data and motor commands. Also higher cognitive functions (intelligence, memory, learning and emotion)
What does the PNS do?
Delivers sensory information to the CNS and carries motor commands to peripheral tissues and systems
What is the function of the afferent PNS?
Brings sensation into the CNS from receptors in peripheral tissues and organs
What is the function of the efferent PNS?
Carries motor commands from the CNS to muscles and glands
Where do cranial nerves come from?
Brainstem
Where do spinal nerves come from?
Spinal cord
What does the somatic nervous system innervate?
Musculoskeletal structures and sensory organs of the skin
What does the autonomic nervous system innervate?
Smooth muscles and glands
What divisions is the autonomic nervous system split into?
Sympathetic, parasympathetic and enteric
Where do the sympathetic nerves come from in the spinal cord?
Only thoracic and lumbar
Where do the parasympathetic nerves come from in the spinal cord?
Only cranial and sacral
What is the spinal cord continuous with?
Medulla oblongata
What is the cone-shaped swelling at the bottom of the spinal cord?
Conus medullaris
Where does the spinal cord terminate?
L1/L2
What is the cauda equina?
The splaying of spinal nerves at the bottom of the spinal cord
What is the filum terminale?
A thin, fibrous strand that attaches the end of the spinal cord to the sacrum
What does grey matter contain?
Cell bodies, dendrites and proximal parts of axons and neurons
What does white matter contain?
An abundance of myelinated axons which run in tracts carrying signals from one part of the CNS to another
What shape is the spinal cord grey matter in cross section?
Butterfly shaped
What makes up the spinal cord grey matter?
Two posterior (dorsal) and two anterior (ventral) horns
What is the function of the two dorsal horns in the spinal cord?
Receive sensory information
What is present in the two ventral horns in the spinal cord?
Cell bodies of motor neurons
Where are the ventral horns found?
Only in the thoracolumbar region
Why are the ventral horns only found in the thoracolumbar region?
Thats where the sympathetic nervous system is
Where is the most spinal cord grey matter found?
In the cervical and lumbar regions where motor control of limbs is the greatest
What does spinal cord white matter contain?
Axons that move up and down the cord
What are the spinal cord white matter axon bundles arranged in?
Three pairs called columns (or funiculi)
What are the names of the spinal cord white matter axon bundles?
Posterior (dorsal), anterior (ventral) and lateral
What do the ascending tracts of spinal cord white matter carry?
Sensory info up the cord
What do the descending tracts of spinal cord white matter carry?
Motor impulses down the cord
What does the PNS consist of?
Cranial nerves and spinal nerves
How many pairs of cranial nerves do you have?
12
How many pairs of spinal nerves do you have?
31
Where does the first pair of spinal nerves pass?
Between the skull and C1
How many cranial nerves are there?
8
How many thoracic nerves are there?
12
How many lumbar nerves are there?
5
How many sacral nerves are there?
5
How many coccygeal nerves are there?
1
What are the types of spinal nerve?
Motor, sensory and autonomic fibres
What are the two roots of spinal nerves called?
Ventral and dorsal
What do the ventral roots of spinal nerves contain?
Efferent nerve fibres carrying motor neurons
What do the dorsal root of spinal nerves contain?
Afferent nerve fibres carrying sensory neurons
Where are the cell bodies of the dorsal root located?
Ganglion