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Biology > The Nervous System > Flashcards

The Nervous System Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Why do organisms have to be aware of what’s happening around them?

A

It effects their chances of survival.

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2
Q

Which two systems co-ordinate an organisms activities?

A
  • The Nervous System

- The Endocrine System

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3
Q

What does a nervous system allow for in relation to stimuli?

A

It allows for an organism to detect and respond to stimuli in its internal and external environment.

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4
Q

What is a stimulus?

A

It is any change in your environment.

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5
Q

What does the nervous system rely on and what are they carried by?

A

It relys on electrical signals and they are carried by neurons.

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6
Q

Name two stimuli.

A
  • A flash of Light

- Noise

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7
Q

What is contained in the Central Nervous System (CNS)?

A
  • The brain

- The spinal cord

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8
Q

What does the brain keep a track of?

A

The brain keeps a track of all activities and internal organs in the body.

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9
Q

Give an example of what the brain would keep in check.

A

The levels of CO2 and or H2O in the blood.

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10
Q

What is contained on the Periferal Nervous System (PNS)?

A

The PNS are the nerves branching from the CNS to all parts of the body.

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11
Q

What is a receptor?

A

A receptor is a nerve cell that detects the stimulus.

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12
Q

What is a neuron?

A

A neuron is a specialised cell that carries electrical impulses around the body.

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13
Q

What is an impulse?

A

An impulse is an electrical signal.

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14
Q

What does the cell body contain?

A

The cell body contains the nucleus and other organelles.

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15
Q

What does the cell body produce?

A

The cell body produces neurotransmitter chemicals.

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16
Q

What is a dendron?

A

A dendron is a small fibre that receives information and carries it towards the cell body.

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17
Q

What’s an axon?

A

An axon is a long fibre that conducts impulses away from the cell body.

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18
Q

What are dendrites?

A

Dendrites are small fibrous branches at the end of a dendron.

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19
Q

What do schwann cells do?

A

They wrap their fatty cell membranes around an axon.

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20
Q

What is it called when a schwann cells wrap around an axon?

A

A myelin sheath.

21
Q

What does a myelin sheath do?

A

It insulates the neuron from electrical signals from other neurons.

22
Q

What do sensory neurons do?

A

They carry messages from the sensory organ to the CNS.

23
Q

What does an inter-neuron do?

A

It connects sensory and motor neurons together and so carries messages in the CNS.

24
Q

What does a motor neuron do?

A

It carries the impulses from the CNS to the muscles and glands.

25
Q

What is a synapse?

A

A synapse is a region in which two neurons come into close contact with eachother.

26
Q

What is a synaptic cleft?

A

It is the gap between two neurons, bridged by chemicals (neurotransmitters).

27
Q

What is a neurotransmitter?

A

It is a chemical released across a synaptic cleft to carry a signal from one neuron to another. After this happens, the chemical is destroyed/removed.

28
Q

What are the three body parts that the brain is protected by?

A
  • Skull
  • Meninges (three membranes on inside of inside of skull)
  • Cerebral fluid
29
Q

What is the cerebrum?

A

This is where the conscious part of the brain is located, each part having different jobs to do.

30
Q

What is the hypothalamus?

A

This is the centre for the regulation of the internal organs.

31
Q

What is the pituitary glands function?

A

This secretes hormones that stimulate other glands to release their horomones.

32
Q

What does the cerebellum do?

A

This co-ordinates the processes that we have learned to do automatically for example, speaking.

33
Q

What does the medulla oblongata do?

A

This co-ordinates involuntary, automatic processes for example, breathing or your heart beating).

34
Q

What does the spinal cord do?

A

It transmits impulses to and from the brain and controls many reflex actions.

35
Q

Describe the layout of a cross-section of the spinal cord.

A

It shows a small central canal filled with cerebrospinal fluid, surrounded by an area of grey matter, shaped somewhat like the letter ‘H’ which is then surrounded by white matter.

36
Q

What does grey matter contain?

A

It contains the cell bodies and dendrites (the regions of a neuron that have no white myelin covering).

37
Q

What is outside of grey matter and what does it contain?

A

Outside the grey matter is white matter and it contains the axons only.

38
Q

How many pairs of spinal nerves branch off from the spinal cord in humans?

A

It has 31 pairs.

39
Q

What are the two parts that come along with a spinal nerve?

A

A dorsal root and a ventral root.

40
Q

What does the dorsal root consist of and what does it do?

A

The dorsal root consists of nerve fibres carrying information into the spinal cord from the senses.

41
Q

What does the ventral root consist of and what does it do?

A

It consists of nerve fibres carrying information out from the spinal cord to the muscles or glands.

42
Q

What is contained within the grey matter cord?

A

The cell bodies of the motor neurons.

43
Q

What is a reflex action?

A

A reflex action is a quick, automatic response to a particular stimulus.

44
Q

Give an example of a reflex action to a stimulus.

A

Suppose you touch a hot flame, almost instantly you would pull your hand away.

45
Q

Explain how reflex actions work (using the example of a hot flame).

A
  • In a brief instant, a message has been carried by a sensory neuron from pair receptors in the skin to the spinal cord.
  • In the spinal cord, the message is passes onto an inter-neuron and then onto a motor neuron, and so muscles respond by contracting and pulling your hand away from the flame.
46
Q

What is a disorder affecting the nervous system in humans?

A

Parkinson’s disease

47
Q

What is parkinson’s disease?

A

It is a nervous system disorder normally seen in older people in which muscles become ridged and movement is slow and difficult, with persistant tremors.

48
Q

What is Parkinson’s disease caused from?

A

It is caused from the brain reducing the amount of dopamine produced.

49
Q

What is the cure for Parkinson’s Disease?

A

There are no ways of preventing it, but giving ‘L-dopa’ (which the body turns to dopamine) can relieve the symptom.

Biology (24 decks)

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