Unit Three - Key Area 1 Flashcards
What does the central nervous system consist of?
The brain and spinal cord
What does the peripheral nervous system consist of?
The somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system
What does the somatic nervous system contain?
sensory and motor neurons
What do sensory neurons do?
take impulses from sense organs to the CNS
What do motor neurons do?
Take impulses from the CNS to muscles and glands
What does the autonomic nervous system consist of?
the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems
Define antagonistically?
The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems do the opposite to each other
What does the sympathetic nervous system do?
Speeds up heart and breathing rate, whilst slowing down peristalsis and production of intestinal secretions
What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?
Slows down breathing and heart rate (does the opposite)
What happens in a converging pathway?
Impulses from several neurons travel to one neuron. This increases the sensitivity to excitatory of inhibitory signals.
What happens in a diverging pathway?
Impulses from one neuron travel to several neurons, affecting more than one destination at the same time.
What happens in a reverberating pathway?
Neurons later in the pathway link with earlier neurons, sending the impulse back through the pathway. This allows repeated stimulation of the pathway.
