The Nervous System Flashcards
What two systems is the nervous system made out of?
- The Central Nervous System
- The Peripheral Nervous System
What is the Central Nervous System (CNS) made up of?
The CNS is made up of the brain and spinal cord.
What is the function of the brain?
The brain is responsible for coordinating sensory, intellectual and nervous activity.
What is the function of the spinal cord?
The spinal cord is made up of relay neurons. It receives and sends information to and from the brain.
What two systems is the peripheral nervous system made out of?
- The Somatic System
- The Autonomic System
What is the peripheral system made up of?
Made up of Peripheral nerves- all the nerves outside of the CNS.
What is the function of the peripheral nervous system?
The peripheral nervous system relays neuronal messages from the CNS to the rest of the body.
What is the Somatic Nervous System made up of?
- Sensory Neurons
- Motor Neurons
What is the function of the somatic nervous system?
- Controls voluntary movement and deals with the external environment.
- Transmits messages from the sense organs (E.g. the eyes, ears, nose etc.) and to the areas of the body to move.
What two systems is the Autonomic Nervous System made up of?
- Sympathetic Nervous System
- Parasympathetic Nervous system
What is the function of the Autonomic Nervous System?
- Controls involuntary bodily responses and deals with the internal environment. (E.g. blood pumping, respiration, breathing etc.)
- Transmits and receives information from the internal organs.
What is the function of the Sympathetic Nervous System?
Increases levels of activity to prepare for the fight or flight response.
What is the function of the Parasympathetic Nervous System?
Restores the body to resting levels.
Functions of sensory neurons
These carry messages from the sensor processors to the CNS by the PNS.
Structure of sensory neurons
They tend to have short axons and long dendrites.
