The Nervous System

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Nervous System

o Three specific functions that work

to maintain homeostasis:
• Sensory input
• Integration
• Motor output
o Divisions of the Nervous System
o Nervous Tissue

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Nervous System

o Divisions of the Nervous System

• Central nervous system (CNS)

Brain

Spinal cord
• Peripheral nervous system (PNS) –
includes all the cranial and spinal
nerves

Afferent (sensory) division

Efferent (motor) division
o Nervous Tissue
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Fig 8.1

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Nervous System

o Nervous Tissue
• Neurons (nerve cells) – transmit
impulses
• Neuroglia – support and nourish
neurons

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Nervous System :Neuroglia

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Nervous System :Neuroglia

o Neuroglia (more numerous nervous

tissue cells, half of the volume)
o Support and nourish neurons, cannot
conduct impulse
o Types of neuroglia found in the brain :
• Microglia
• Astrocytes
• Oligodendrocytes
• Ependymal cells
o Schwann cells are neuroglia located
outside the brain or spinal cord (PNS)
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Nervous System

• Neuron structure

Cell body – contains nucleus and other
organelles

Dendrite – receive signals from sensory
receptors or other neurons

Axon
 Conducts nerve signals away from cell body
 Nerve – bundle of parallel axons in the PNS
 Tract – bundle of parallel axons in the CNS
 May be covered by myelin (lipid coating)
­ Formed by Schwann cells or
neurolemmocytes in PNS
­ Formed by oligodendrocytes in CNS
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Fig 8.2

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Nervous System

• Types of neurons

Motor neurons
 Take nerve impulses from the CNS to muscles,
organs, or glands
 Multipolar – have many dendrites

Sensory neurons
 Take nerve impulses from sensory receptors to
the CNS
 Almost all are unipolar

Interneurons
 All are in the CNS
 Typically multipolar
 Convey nerve impulses between various parts
of the CNS
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Nervous System

• Nerve signal conduction


Resting potential
 Neuron possesses potential energy
 The cell membrane is polarized
­ positively charged outside the cell
­ negatively charged inside

Action potential
 Process of conduction of nerve signals
 Occurs in the axons
 Begins with a stimulus
 Channels in the cell membrane opens and sodium
ions rush into the cell (depolarization)
 Sodium channels close and the cell repolarizes
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Fig 8.3

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 Resting Membrane Potential

• inside is negative
relative to the outside
• polarized membrane
• due to distribution of
ions
• Na+/K+ pump

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 Action Potentials

• at rest membrane is
polarized

• threshold stimulus
reached

• sodium channels
open and membrane
depolarizes

• potassium leaves
cytoplasm and
membrane repolarizes

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Action Potentials

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Action Potentials

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Nervous System

Conduction of action potentials (APs)
 In unmyelinated axons
­ Slow (~1 meter/second)
­ Each section of the axon must be stimulated
 In myelinated axons
­ Called saltatory conduction
­ An AP at one node of Ranvier can “jump”
over myelinated portion of axon
­ Much faster (>100 meters/second)
 Is an all­or­none event
 Refractory period
­ Axon cannot conduct an AP
­ Ensures one­way direction of an impulse
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Fig 8.4

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Nervous System

• Transmission across a synapse


Axon terminal – small swelling at tips of
the branched end of an axon

Synapse
 Region of close proximity between two neurons
 Presynaptic membrane – membrane of the first
neuron
 Postsynaptic membrane – membrane of the
next neuron
 Synaptic cleft – small gap between the
presynaptic and the postsynaptic neuron

Neurotransmitters – molecules that
transmit a nerve impulse across a
synapse
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Transmission between neurons:

1. When nerve impulses traveling along an

axon (action potential) reach an axon
terminal, Calcium channels open and Ca2+
enters the terminal.
2. Rise in Ca2+ stimulates synaptic vesicles
to merge with the presynaptic membrane,
and neurotransmitter molecules are
released to the synaptic cleft.

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Fig 8.5

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Nervous System

Graded potentials and synaptic
integration
 Graded potentials – each small signal from a
synapse
 Excitatory neurotransmitters produce a graded
potential that promotes an AP
 Inhibitory neurotransmitters produce a graded
potential that inhibits an AP
 Integration involves summing up the excitatory
and inhibitory signals

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Nervous System

Neurotransmitter Molecules
 At least 50 have been identified
 Two well­known neurotransmitters:
­ Acetylcholine (Ach)
­ Norepinephrine (NE)
 After a neurotransmitter has initiated a
response it is removed from the synaptic cleft
­ Enzymes may inactivate the
neurotransmitter
­ The neurotransmitter may be reabsorbed by
the presynaptic membrane
­ Prevents continuous stimulation (or
inhibition) of postsynaptic membranes

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Neurotransmitters

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Central Nervous System

o Gray matter – contains cell bodies and

unmyelinated fibers
o White matter – contains myelinated
axons
o Meninges and Cerebrospinal Fluid
• Meninges – protective membranes of the
CNS

Dura mater – outer meninx composed of tough,
fibrous connective tissue

Arachnoid mater – middle meninx composed of
spider­web­like connective tissue

Pia mater – deepest meninx
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Fig 8.6

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Central Nervous System

• Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)


Produced by ependymal cells

Fills the following:
 Subarachnoid space – space between the
arachnoid mater and the pia mater
 Ventricles – hollow, interconnecting cavities of
the brain
 Central canal – hollow, space of the spinal cord

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Central Nervous System

• The spinal cord


Extends from the base of the brain to the
lumbar vertebra

Protected by vertebral column

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Central Nervous System

Structure of the spinal cord
 Central canal contains CSF
 Centrally located gray matter
­ Posterior (dorsal) root – contains sensory
fibers
­ Anterior (ventral) root – contains motor
fibers
­ interneurons
 White matter
­ Posterior white matter composed of
ascending tracts carrying sensory
information to the brain
­ Anterior white matter composed of
descending tracts carrying motor
information from the brain 29
Fig 8.7

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Central Nervous System

Functions of the spinal cord
 Provides communication between the brain and
the peripheral nerves
 Reflexes

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Central Nervous System

• The brain

Cerebrum

Diencephalon

Cerebellum

Brain stem

Ventricles
 Two lateral ventricles (cerebrum)
 Third ventricle (diencephalon)
 Fourth ventricle (cerebellum)

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Fig 8.8

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Central Nervous System

• The Cerebrum

Largest portion of the brain

Voluntary motor responses

Coordinates the activities of the other
parts of the brain

Involved in higher thought processes

The cerebral hemispheres
 Longitudinal fissure divides the left and right
 Connected by the corpus callosum
 Gyri (ridges) are separated by sulci (shallow
grooves)

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Central Nervous System


Lobes
 Frontal lobe
 Parietal lobes
 Occipital lobe Fig 8.9

 Temporal lobes
 Insula

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Central Nervous System

• The cerebral cortex


Outer layer of gray matter

Accounts for sensation, voluntary
movement, and consciousness

Motor and sensory areas
 Primary motor area
­ In frontal lobe anterior to central sulcus
­ Voluntary commands to skeletal muscle
 Primary somatosensory area
­ Posterior to central sulcus in parietal lobes
­ Receives sensory information from the skin
and skeletal muscles

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Fig 8.10

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Central Nervous System

Primary taste area
 Located in insula
 Taste sensations

Primary visual area
 Located in the occipital lobe
 Receives information from our eyes

Primary auditory area
 Located in the temporal lobe
 Receives information from our ears

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Central Nervous System

Association areas
 Where integration occurs
 Where memories are stored
 Premotor area organizes motor functions for
skilled motor activities and then the primary motor
area sends signals to the cerebellum and the basal
nuclei, which integrate them.
 Cerebral palsy

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 
Processing centers
Prefrontal area
 Uses information from other association areas &
perform reasoning and planning actions
Motor speech area (Broca’s area) in L. frontal lobe
­speak is partially depend on it
­damage ability to control the muscles of the face and
neck that allow speech
Wernicke’s area (general interpretive area)
­receives infomration from all other sensory association
areas.
­damage hinder a person’s ability to interpret written
and spoken messages
• Broca’s area & Wernicke’s area responsible
for communication
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Central Nervous System

Central white matter
 Tracts communicate information between the
different sensory, motor, and association areas
 Corpus callosum join the two cerebral hemispheres

Basal nuclei
 Masses of gray matter
 Integrate motor commands

Limbic system
 Inferior to the cerebral cortex
 Contains neural pathways that connect portions of
the cerebral cortex and the temporal lobes with the
thalamus and the hypothalamus
 Causes emotion
 Involved in memory and learning
 Hippocampus involved in processing short­term
memory to become long­term memory 41
Basal Nuclei

• masses of gray matter

• deep within cerebral
hemispheres
• caudate nucleus, putamen,
globus pallidus
• produce dopamine
• control certain muscular
activities
• primarily by inhibiting
motor functions
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Central Nervous System

• The diencephalon

Hypothalamus
 Forms the floor of the third ventricle
 Integrating center involved in homeostasis
 Regulates hunger, sleep, thirst, body
temperature, and water balance
 Link between nervous and endocrine systems

Thalamus
 Located in sides and roof of the third ventricle
 Functions as a sensory relay center
 Involved in arousal of the cerebrum
 Participates in memory and emotions

Pineal gland regulates body’s daily
rhythms
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Central Nervous System

• The cerebellum

Separated from brain stem by the fourth
ventricle

Two hemispheres composed primarily of
white matter

Receives sensory input from the eyes,
ears, joints, and muscles

Receives motor output from the cerebral
cortex

Maintains posture and balance and
ensures smooth, coordinated voluntary
movement

Assists in learning of new motor skills
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Central Nervous System

• The brain stem


Midbrain
 Relay station between cerebrum and the spinal cord or
cerebellum
 Reflex centers for visual, auditory, and tactile responses

Pons
 Contains bundles of axons traveling between the
cerebellum and the rest of the CNS
 Helps regulate breathing rate

Medulla oblongata
 Vital reflex centers
 Reflex centers for vomiting, coughing, sneezing,
hiccupping, and swallowing

Reticular formation
 Involved in maintaining muscle tone
 Assists in regulating respiration, heart rate, and blood
pressure
 Helps rouse a sleeping person

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Peripheral Nervous System

o Lies outside of CNS

o Composed of nerves and ganglia
o Subdivisions
• Afferent (sensory)

Somatic sensory
 Serves the skin, skeletal muscles, joints, and
tendons
 Special senses

Visceral sensory supplies the internal organs
• Efferent (motor)

Somatic motor system carries commands from
CNS to the skeletal muscles

Autonomic motor system regulates cardiac and
smooth muscle and glands
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Peripheral Nervous System

o Cranial nerves
• 12 pairs
• Sensory nerves contain only sensory fibers
• Motor nerves contain only motor fibers
• Mixed nerves contain both sensory and
motor fibers
• Mostly involved with the head, neck, and
facial regions of the body
• The vagus nerve (cranial nerve X) has
sensory and motor branches to the face and
most of the internal organs

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Fig 8.11a

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Peripheral Nervous System

o Spinal nerves
• 31 pairs
• Designated according to their location
in relation to the vertebrae
• Mixed nerves

Sensory fibers enter at the posterior root

Motor fibers exit at the anterior root
• The cell body of a sensory neuron is
in a posterior-root ganglion
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Fig 8.11b Fig 8.12

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Peripheral Nervous System
Somatic Motor Nervous System and Reflexes
• Voluntary actions that originate in the motor
cortex
• Utilize 1 somatic motor neuron to travel
directly to effector e.g. skeletal muscle fiber
without synapse at a ganglion
• Reflexes are automatic involuntary responses

Cranial reflexes involve the brain

Spinal reflex involves only the spinal cord

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Fig 8.13

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Peripheral Nervous System

o Autonomic Motor Nervous System and

Visceral Reflexes
• Two divisions of ANS

Function automatically and involuntarily

Innervate all internal organs

Utilize two motor neurons and one ganglion for
each impulse
(somatic motor neurone traevls directly to its effector
without synapsing at a ganglion)

• Visceral reflexes are important to the

maintenance of homeostasis

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Peripheral Nervous System

• Sympathetic division of ANS (“Fight

or Flight”)

Preganglionic fibers arise from the thoracic­
lumbar portion of the spinal cord

Preganglionic fibers are short and
postganglionic fibers are long

Accelerates heartbeat and dilates the bronchi

Inhibits the digestive tract

Neurotransmitter released by the
postganglionic neuron is primarily
norepineprhine (NE)

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Peripheral Nervous System
Parasympathetic division of ANS (“Rest
and Digest”)

Includes a few cranial nerves and
preganglionic fibers that arise from the
sacral portion of the spinal cord
(craniosacral portion of ANS)

Preganglionic fiber is long and
postganglionic fiber is short

Promotes digestion of food, slows heart
rate, and decreases the strength of
cardiac contraction

Acetylcholine (Ach) is the
neurotransmitter of the parasympathetic
division

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Fig 8.14

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Effects of Aging

o Brain mass decreases

o Learning, memory, and reasoning
decline
o Neurotransmitter production
decreases
o Although structural changes occur,
mental impairment is not an
automatic consequence of getting
older
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Homeostasis

o Detects, interprets, and responds to

changes in the internal and external
environment
o With the endocrine system, it
coordinates and regulates the
functioning of other systems
o The hypothalamus and medulla
oblongata control vital functions
o Sympathetic division of the ANS works
to keep us from danger

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