Vocab

Question 1

Neurotransmitter chemical released at the ends of nerve cells

Answer 1

Acetycholine

Question 2

Carries messages toward the brain and spinal cord (sensory nerve)

Answer 2

Afferent nerve

Question 3

Middle layer of the three membranes (meninges) that surround the brain and spinal cord

Answer 3

Arachnoid membrane

Question 4

Type of glial (neuroglial) cell that transports water and salts from capillaries

Answer 4

Astrocyte

Question 5

Nerves that control involuntary body functions of muscles, glands, and internal organs

Answer 5

Autonomic nervous system

Question 6

Microscopic fiber that carries the nervous impulse along a nerve cell

Answer 6

Axon

Question 7

Protective separation between the blood brain cells. This makes it difficult for substances (such as anticancer drugs) to penetrate capillary walls and enter the brain

Answer 7

blood-brain barrier

Question 8

Posterior portion of the brain that connects the cerebrum with the spinal cord; includes the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata

Answer 8

brainstem

Question 9

Collection of spinal nerves below the end of the spinal cord

Answer 9

cauda equina

Question 10

Part of a nerve cell that contains the nucleus

Answer 10

cell body

Question 11

The brain and the spinal cord

Answer 11

central nervous system (CNS)

Question 12

Posterior part of the brain that coordinates muscle movements and maintains balance

Answer 12

cerebellum

Question 13

Outer region of the cerebrum, containing sheets of nerve cells; gray matter of the brain

Answer 13

cerebral cortex

Question 14

circulates throughout the brain and spinal cord

Answer 14

cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

Question 15

Largest part of the brain; responsible for voluntary muscular activity, vision, speech, taste, hearing, thought, and memory

Answer 15

Cerebrum

Question 16

Twelve pairs of nerves that carry messages to and from the brain with regard to the head and neck

Answer 16

cranial nerves

Question 17

Microscopic branching fiber of a nerve cell that is the first part to receive the nervous impulse

Answer 17

dendrite

Question 18

Thick, outermost layer of the meninges surrounding and protecting the brain and spinal. Latin for “hard mother”

Answer 18

dura mater

Question 19

Carries messages away from the brain and spinal cord; motor nerve

Answer 19

efferent nerve

Question 20

Glial cell that lines membranes within the brain and spinal cord and helps form cerebrospinal fluid

Answer 20

ependymal cell

Question 21

Collection of nerve cell bodies in the peripheral nervous system

Answer 21

ganglion

Question 22

Supportive and connective nerve cell that does not carry nervous impulses. Glial cells can reproduce themselves, as opposed to neurons

Answer 22

glial cell (neuroglial cell)

Question 23

Sheet of nerve cells that produces a rounded ridge on the surface of the cerebral cortex; convolution

Answer 23

gyrus

Question 24

Portion of the brain beneath the thalamus; controls sleep, appetite, body, temperature, and secretions from the pituitary gland

Answer 24

hypothalamus

Question 25

Part of the brain just above the spinal cord; controls breathing heartbeat, and the size of blood vessels; nerve fibers cross over here

Answer 25

medulla oblongata

Question 26

Three protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord

Answer 26

meninges

Question 27

Phagocytic glial cell that removes waste products from the central nervous system

Answer 27

microglial cell

Question 28

uppermost portion of the brainstem

Answer 28

midbrain

Question 29

Carries messages away from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and organs; efferent nerve

Answer 29

motor nerve

Question 30

Covering of white fatty tissue that surrounds and insulates the axon of a nerve cell. Myelin speeds impulse conduction along axons

Answer 30

myelin sheath

Question 31

Macroscopic cord-like collection of fibers (axons and dendrites) that carry electrical impulses

Answer 31

nerve

Question 32

Nerve cell that carries impulses throughout the body; parenchyma of the nervous system

Answer 32

neuron

Question 33

chemical messenger released at the end of a nerve cell

Answer 33

neurotransmitter

Question 34

glial cell that forms the myelin sheath covering axons. also called oligodendrocyte

Answer 34

oligodendroglial cell

Question 35

Involuntary, autonomic nerves that regulate normal body functions such as heart rate, breathing, and muscles of the gastrointestinal tract

Answer 35

parasympathetic nerves

Question 36

Essential, distinguishing tissue of any organ or system. The parenchyma of the nervous system includes the neurons and nerves that carry nervous impulses.

Answer 36

parenchyma

Question 37

Nerves outside the brain and spinal cord: cranial, spinal, and autonomic nerves

Answer 37

peripheral nervous system

Question 38

Thin, delicate inner membrane of the meninges

Answer 38

pia mater

Question 39

Large, interlacing network of nerves

Answer 39

plexus

Question 40

part of the brain anterior to the cerebellum and between the medulla and the rest of the midbrain

Answer 40

pons

Question 41

organ that receives a nervous stimulate and passes it on to afferent nerves

Answer 41

receptor

Question 42

nerve extending from the base of the spine down the thing, lower led, and foot

Answer 42

sciatic nerve

Question 43

carries messages toward the brain and spinal cord from a receptor; afferent nerve

Answer 43

sensory nerve

Question 44

thirty-one pairs of nerves arising from the spinal cord

Answer 44

spinal nerves

Question 45

agent of change in the internal or external environment that evokes a response

Answer 45

stimulus

Question 46

connective and supporting tissue of an organ. Glial cells make up the stromal tissue of the brain

Answer 46

stroma

Question 47

depression or groove in the surface of the cerebral cortex; fissure

Answer 47

sulcus

Question 48

autonomic nerves that influence bodily functions involuntarily in times of stress

Answer 48

sympathetic nerves

Question 49

space through which a nervous impulse travels between nerve cells or between nerve and muscle or glandular cells

Answer 49

synapse

Question 50

Main relay center of the brain

Answer 50

thalamus

Question 51

tenth cranial nerve

Answer 51

vagus nerve

Question 52

canals in the brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid

Answer 52

ventricles of the brain