Nervous System

H.A.L. Tabo

Anatomical Divisions
CNS Central Nervous System
Brain
Cerebellum
Spinal cord
PNS Peripheral Nervous System
Ganglion
Cranial nerves
Brain
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS)
Spinal cord
Brain (Encephalon)- enclosed
in the skull
Spinal cord- contained within
the vertebral canal.

Nervous tissue of the CNS
does not contain connective
tissue within its parenchyma,
other than that in the meninges
and in the walls of large blood
vessels.

Because of the absence of
connective tissue, fresh CNS
tissue has a very soft,
somewhat jelly-like
consistency.
The two major classes of cells that make up the nervous tissue are:
nerve cells, neurones, and
supporting cells, glia.
THE NEURON
Microglia are small cells with
complex shapes. They are derived
from the cell line which also gives
rise to monocytes, i.e. macrophage
precursors which circulate in the
blood stream. In the case of tissue
damage, microglia differentiate
into phagocytotic cells.
Oligodendrocytes (or oligoglia)
have fewer and shorter processes.
Oligodendrocytes form myelin
sheath around axons in the CNS and
are the functional homologue of
peripheral Schwann cells.
Ependymal cells line the ventricles
of the brain and the central canal of
the spinal cord. The cells are often
cilated and form a simple cuboidal or
low columnar epithelium. They do
form tight junctions and control the
exchange of substances between these
regions and surrounding nervous
tissue or cerebrospinal fluid.
Astrocytes, showing their many
fine cytoplasmic processes. Note
their close relationship to
capillaries, the heavy black
structures.
Since astrocytes touch both
capillaries and neurons, they are
thought to play an important
intermediary role in the nutrition
and metabolism of neurons.
Peripheral glia: satellite cells and
Schwann cells may be roughly
equated with oligodendrocytes by
function.
CNS tissue contains several types of non-neuronal, supporting cells, neuroglia.
Cerebrum
Cerebellum
Medulla oblongata
Pons
Corpus
callosum
An overview mid-sagittal cut of the brain, showing the many folds (or gyri)
of the external cerebral cortex, and the much smaller, more delicate folds
(or folia) of the cerebellar cortex seen to the right.
Section of cerebral cortex, showing cuts of two gyri. The
pale cortex follows along the contours of the gyri.
GM: NEUROPIL feltwork mass of consisting of axons
& dendrites (neuropil fibers)
White matter (composed of nerve processes) lies below and
stains a darker pink. Very little cytoarchitecture is seen with
H&E stain.
Cerebrum
GM
WM
Cerebral cortex: pyramidal cells, fusiform and stellate
cells of many kinds.
Cerebral cortex stained with silver to show silhouettes of pyramidal cells.
www.udel.edu/Biology/Wags/histopage/illuspage/ine/ine3.GIF
Cerebral cortex
Cortical neurons:
Pyramidal N.
Interneurons (association)
www.udel.edu/Biology/Wags/histopage/illuspage/ine/ine3.GIF
The 6 Layers of Neo-Cortex (Cerebral Cortex)
The cerebrum or cortex
is the largest part of the human brain
associated with higher brain function such as thought and
action.
The cerebral cortex is divided into four
sections, called "lobes": the frontal
lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and
temporal lobe.
Frontal Lobe- associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement,
emotions, and problem solving
Parietal Lobe- associated with movement, orientation, recognition, perception of
stimuli
Occipital Lobe- associated with visual processing
Temporal Lobe- associated with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli,
memory, and speech
Each folium has a central core of bright blue white matter, consisting of
nerve processes entering and leaving the superficial cortex. The cortex has
an external pale layer and a darker staining granular layer beneath it.
Section of cerebellar cortex, showing several folia.
Cerebellar cortex: Purkinje cells, granule cells, stellate cells, basket cells.
Cerebellum
The Cerebellum: has a highly folded surface or cortex. This structure is associated
with regulation and coordination of movement, posture, and balance.
The cerebellar cortex has three layers: an outer molecular layer, a
central layer of large Purkinje cells, and an inner granule layer. The
Purkinje cells have a conspicuous cell body and their dendrites are highly
developed (fan-like). These dendrites occupy most of the molecular layer
and are the reason for the sparseness of nuclei. The granule layer is
formed by very small neurons (the smallest in the body), which are
compactly disposed, in contrast to the less cell-dense molecular layer.
The cellular organization of the gray and white matter in
the brain differ from the spinal cord in these ways:

(a) gray matter lies to the exterior with white
underlying it;
(b) tissue of both kinds of cortex is folded: into gyri for
the cerebral cortex and folia in the cerebellum; nerve
cells are of various types and are disposed in layer
parallel to the pial surface.
Meninges
Supporting tissues
Pia mater innermost
Arachnoid mater - middle and
thicker layer (cob-web like) due
to investment of connective
tissue cords (chordae) with
blood vessels continuous in the
pia mater (subarachnoid space).
Leptomeninges pia-arachnoid
layer with the subarachnoid space
Dura mater dense fibroelastic
layer

AM
SA
PM
Gray matter of the cord (quite pink here), where
neuronal cell bodies lie.
White matter is composed of nerve fibres, many thickly myelinated, running mainly
up or down the cord. Generally, fibres projecting to or from a particular brain region
run together in a tract.
Gray matter
Neuronal cell bodies
White matter
Spinal ganglion
Outside the cord, to the right, lies a mass of nerve cell bodies, the spinal ganglion,
interrupting the course of the dorsal root. These are pseudounipolar cells that are in
characteristic groups or clumps, separated by bands of nerve processes. The large
neuron has a pale axon hillock due to the absence of RER (Nissl substance) in this
area.
Higher power of spinal ganglion stained
with H&E.

In such a pseudounipolar cell, the
incoming dendrite and outgoing axon
seem to be related to the cell body by
means of a single "stalk".
Detail of pseudounipolar spinal ganglion
each one encapsulated by a layer of small
satellite cells.
Remember that connective tissue is the
supportive tissue of the peripheral
nervous system.