Unit 2

Question 1

What is the overall function of the nervous system?

Answer 1

It is a major controlling, regulating, and communicating system in the body, and it uses neurons (nerve cells) to send electrical and chemical messages from cell to cell.

Question 2

What are the 3 universal properties found in all neurons?

Answer 2

Excitability
Conductivity
Secretion

Question 3

What are the nervous system’s anatomical subdivisions?

Answer 3

Central nervous system (CNS)—brain and spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)—
nerves and ganglia

Question 4

Define the three most basic functional categories of neurons.

Answer 4

Sensory (afferent) Neurons
Interneurons
Motor (efferent) Neurons

Question 5

Identify the parts of the neuron

Question 5

Name the six types of cells that aid neurons, and state their respective
functions.

Question 6

Describe four structural classes of neurons.

Question 7

Describe the myelin sheath that is found around certain axons, and explain its importance.

Question 8

Describe the relationship of unmyelinated axons to their supportive cells.

Question 8

Describe how conduction spreads in unmyelinated and myelinated axons.

Question 9

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Answer 9

Brain and spinal cord

Question 10

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Answer 10

Nerves and ganglia

Question 11

Nerve

Answer 11

a bundle of nerve fibers
(axons) wrapped in fibrous
connective tissue

Question 11

Ganglion

Answer 11

a knot-like swelling in a nerve where neuron cell bodies of PNS are concentrated

Question 12

Sensory (afferent) division of PNS

Answer 12

carries signals from receptors (sense organs)

Question 13

Visceral sensory division

Answer 13

carries signals from the viscera (heart, lungs, stomach, and urinary bladder)

Question 14

Somatic sensory division

Answer 14

carries signals from receptors in the
skin, muscles, bones, and joints

Question 15

Motor (efferent) division

Answer 15

carries signals from the nervous system to effectors (glands and muscles that carry out the body’s response)

Question 15

Somatic motor division

Answer 15

carries signals to skeletal muscles;
causes voluntary muscle contraction and automatic reflexes

Question 16

Sympathetic division

Answer 16

stimulates and prepares the body for action

Question 16

Visceral motor division (autonomic nervous system, ANS)

Answer 16

carries signals to glands, cardiac and smooth muscle; no voluntary
control; responses called visceral reflexes

Question 17

Parasympathetic division

Answer 17

calming effect on the body

Question 18

excitability

Answer 18

ability to respond to stimuli

Question 19

Conductivity

Answer 19

produce electrical signals that are conducted to other
cells

Question 20

Secretion

Answer 20

when the signal reaches the end of an axon, the neuron can secrete a neurotransmitter that stimulates the next cell