PNS Learning Objectives Flashcards
What are the components of the PNS?
- 31 pairs of spinal nerves (+ ganglia)
- 12 pairs of cranial nerves (+ ganglia)
- ANS (+ ganglia)
What is the embryological sources for the CNS?
- Neural tube
What is the embryological sources for the PNS?
- Neural crest cells
What is the embryological sources for the sense organs (nose, ear, eye)?
- Ectodermal placodes
Which embryological source primarily gives rise to the PNS?
Neural crest cells
What are the different types of nerves? Sensory vs Motor
- Sensory (afferent): convey neural impulses to the CNS from the sense organs and receptors
- Motor (efferent/ EXIT): convey neural impulses from the CNS to effector organs, muscles, and glands
- Can be subdivided based on targets: somatic (body wall) and visceral (organs)
What are the different types of nerves? Cranial vs Spinal
- Cranial: bilateral pairs that exit the cranial cavity through foramina in the skull
- Spinal: bilateral pairs from a specific segment of the spinal cord and exit the vertebral column through the intervertebral foramina
Spinal nerve order
C 7
T 12
L 5
S 5
C 1
Where do spinal nerves exit the vertebral column?
Intervertebral foramina
Spinal nerves naming
- C1-C7 are named for the vertebra inferior to their exit
- C8 exits between C7 and T1
- The rest are named by vertebra superior to their exit
ventral/dorsal rootlets vs roots
- fibers emerge from spinal cord as rootlets
- rootlets converge to form 2 nerve roots
Ventral vs dorsal nerve roots
- ventral is MOTOR: fibers from cell bodies located in the anterior horn of the spinal cord
- dorsal is SENSORY: fibers from cell bodies located in the dorsal root (spinal) ganglion
ventral/dorsal spinal nerve
nerve roots converge to form spinal nerve (mixed sensory and motor)
What does a spinal nerve divide into?
anterior and dorsal ramus (both are mixed sensory and motor)
What does the anterior ramus innervate?
- anterior and lateral trunk
- upper and lower limb (form plexuses in limbs)
What does the posterior ramus innervate?
- deep back muscles
- skin over those muscles
- arteries supplying these structures
Where do anterior rami remain separated/segmented?
- thorax
- anterior abdominal wall
What does it mean that ventral rami merge to form a plexus in the neck, upper, and lower limbs?
A plexus is a network of fibers from multiple peripheral nerves and spinal nerve levels (has a functional advantage)
Which areas of the body are innervated by spinal nerves?
ONLY body wall and limbs
What do somatic sensory neurons innervate?
Skin, joins and muscle
Where are somatic sensory cell bodies of origin located?
1st order cell bodies are outside but close to CNS in dorsal root ganglion or ganglia associated with cranial nerves