The Nervous System Flashcards
what is the nervous system divided into
Central Nervous System
Peripheral Nervous System
what is the central nervous system composed of and contains what type of neuron
- the brain and spinal cord
- relay neuron
what is the peripheral nervous system composed of and contains what type of neuron
- made up of neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body
- sensory and motor neurons
what are the peripheral nervous system divided into
somatic nervous system
autonomic nervous system
what is the somatic nervous system
system that controls the conscious activities
what is the autonomic nervous system
system that controls unconscious activities e.g. breathing
furthermore the autonomic system has two further divisions what are they
sympathetic nervous system
parasympathetic nervous system
what is the sympathetic nervous system
- system that gets the body ready for action (fight or flight)
- these release noradrenaline (neurotransmitter)
what is the parasympathetic nervous system
- calms the body down (rest and digest)
- releases acetylcholine (neurotransmitter)
what are neurons
specialised cells that conduct action potential (electrical impulses) within the nervous system
what does a nervous system reaction involve
stimulus (change in environment)
receptor (sense organ which detects he change
coordinator (e.g. CNS , responsible to form the response)
effector (the thing that produces the response)
what is the pathway of a nerve impulse
stimulus -> receptor -> ~CNS -> effector-> response
red light eye brain muscle brake
how does the receptor send the action potential to the CNS
thru a sensory neruon
what do sensory receptors act as
transducers (converts the energy of a stimulus to electrical energy)
how does the motor neuron send the action potential to the effector
thru a motor neuron
