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THE NERVOUS SYSTEM b) Visceral sensory fibers – transmit

impulses from visceral (internal) organs.
 Master controlling and communicating
system of the body  Motor (efferent) division
- Carries impulses from the CNS to
Functions of the Nervous System
effector organs, the muscles, and the
a) Sensory input glands
 gather information a) Somatic nervous system – voluntary
 monitor changes occurring inside and b) Autonomic nervous system – involuntary
outside the body (changes = stimuli)
b) Integration
 process and interpret sensory input and
decide if action is needed.
c) Motor output
 A response to integrated stimuli
 The response activates muscles or glands

NERVOUS TISSUE
1. Structural Classification  Supporting cells
a) Central nervous system (CNS)  Neurons

 Brain and spinal cord Supporting cells

 Integrating and command centers of the
nervous system Location: CNS

b) Peripheral nervous system (PNS) a) Astrocytes

- star-shaped cells
 Consists of nerves that extend from the - have swollen ends
brain and spinal cord - abundant
 Serve as communication links - Form barrier between capillaries and
 Link all parts of the body neurons
 Spinal nerves – carry impulses to and from - Control the chemical environment of the
the spinal cord brain (CNS)
 Cranial nerves – carry impulses to and
from the brain
2. Functional Classification of the PNS

 Sensory (afferent) division

- Convey impulses to the central nervous
system from sensory receptors
a) Somatic fibers – deliver impulses from
the skin, skeletal muscles, and joints b) Microglia
- spider-like phagocytes
- dispose of debris
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Major Regions of Neurons

a) Cell Body - nucleus and metabolic center of the
cell
b) Processes – fibers that extend from the cell
body (dendrites and axons)

 Dendrites – convey incoming messages

toward the cell body
c) Ependymal cells  Axons – generate nerve impulses and
- Line cavities of the brain and spinal cord conduct them away from the cell body
- Circulate cerebrospinal fluid  Axon hillock – axon arises from this conelike
d) Oligodendrocytes region
- wrap their flat extensions around the nerve  Neurotransmitters – chemicals in tiny
vesicles
 Synaptic cleft – tiny gap that separates each
axon terminal from the next neuron
 Synapse – junction between nerves

fibers, producing myelin sheaths (fatty

insulating coverings)

Location: PNS
a) Satellite cells
- Protect neuron cell bodies
c) Myelin sheaths
b) Schwann cells
- Form myelin sheath in the peripheral  Whitish, fatty material
nervous system  Has a waxy appearance
 Protects and insulates the fibers
Neuroglia vs. Neurons  Increases the rate of nerve impulses
Nerve Fiber Coverings
a) Schwann cells - produce
myelin sheaths in jelly-roll
like fashion
 Neuroglia divide, neurons do not
 Most brain tumors involve the neuroglia b) Nodes of Ranvier – gaps
cells, not the neurons in myelin sheath along the
axon
Neurons
 ‘nerve cells’
 Specialized to transmit messages (nerve
impulses)
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Neuron Cell Body Location Physiology: Nerve Impulses

 Most are found in the CNS  Irritability – ability to respond to stimuli

 Tracts – bundles of nerve fibers running  Conductivity – ability to transmit an impulse
through the CNS  The plasma membrane of a resting, or
 Nerves – bundles of nerve fibers in the PNS inactive, neuron is polarized
 White matter – dense collections of - Fewer positive ions are inside the cell
myelinated fibers than outside the cell
 Gray matter – cell bodies and mostly
Action Potential Initiation and Generation
unmyelinated fibers
 Ganglia – collections of cell bodies outside  Depolarization – a
the central nervous system stimulus depolarizes the
neuron’s membrane
Functional Classifications of Neurons
 A depolarized membrane
 Sensory (afferent) neurons allows sodium (Na+) to
- Carry impulses from the sensory flow inside the membrane
receptors  The exchange of ions
- Cutaneous sense organs initiates an action
- Proprioceptors – detect stretch or potential in the neuron
tension
 Motor (efferent) neurons
- Carry impulses from the central nervous  If the action potential (nerve impulse) starts,
system it is propagated over the entire axon
 Interneurons (association neurons)  Potassium ions rush out of the neuron after
- Found in neural pathways in the central sodium ions rush in, which repolarizes the
nervous system membrane
- Connect sensory and motor neurons  The sodium-potassium pump restores the
original configuration
Structural Classifications of Neurons

 Multipolar neurons – many extensions

from the cell body  The impulse continues to
move toward the cell body
 Impulses travel faster
when fibers have a myelin
sheath

 Bipolar neurons – one axon and one

Transmission of the Signal and Synapses
dendrite
 Impulses are able to cross the synapse to
another nerve
- Neurotransmitter is released from a
nerve’s axon terminal
- The dendrite of the next neuron has
 Unipolar neurons – have a short single receptors that are stimulated by the
process leaving the cell body neurotransmitter
- An action potential is started in the
dendrite
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A.1 Cerebral Hemispheres

 ‘cerebrum’
 Most superior part of the brain
 Includes more than half of the brain mass
 As it develops, they enclose and obscure
most of the brain stem
 The surface is made of ridges (gyri) and
grooves (sulci)
 Gyri – elevated ridges if tissue
 Sulci – shallow grooves
 Fissures – deep grooves
Lobes of the Cerebellum
Transmission of the Signal and Synapses
a) Frontal lobe
Reflex Arc b) Parietal lobe
 direct route from a sensory neuron, to an c) Occipital lobe
interneuron, to an effector d) Temporal lobe

Types of Reflexes and Regulation

 Somatic sensory area - receives impulses
a) Autonomic reflexes
from the body’s sensory receptors
- Smooth muscle regulation
 Primary motor area - sends impulses to
- Heart and blood pressure regulation
skeletal muscles
- Regulation of glands
 Broca’s area - involved in our ability to
- Digestive system regulation
speak
b) Somatic reflexes
Sensory and Motor Areas of the Cerebral Cortex
- Activation of skeletal muscles

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS)

 develops from the embryonic neural tube

 The neural tube becomes the brain and
spinal cord
 The opening of the neural tube becomes the
ventricles
Regions of the Brain
A. Cerebral Hemispheres
B. Diencephalon
Layers of the Cerebrum
C. Brain Stem
a) Gray matter – outer layer
D. Cerebellum
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- composed mostly of neuron cell bodies  Cerebral aqueduct – tiny canal that
connects the 3rd ventricle of the
b) White matter
diencephalon to the 4th ventricle.
- Fiber tracts inside the gray matter
 Cerebral peduncles – two bulging fiber
- Corpus callosum – connects the cerebral
tracts which convey ascending and
hemispheres
descending impulses.
A.2 Basal nuclei  Corpora quadrigemina - reflex centers for
 Islands of gray matter vision and hearing
 Help regulate voluntary motor activities by
b) Pons
modifying information sent to the motor
 The bulging center part of the brain stem
cortex
 Mostly composed of fiber tracts
 Involved in Huntington’s and Parkinson’s
 Includes nuclei involved in the control of
Disease
breathing
B. Diencephalon
c) Medulla oblongata
 ‘interbrain’
 Most inferior part of the brain stem
 Sits on top of the brain stem
 Merges into the spinal cord
 Enclosed by the cerebral hemisphere
 An important fiber tract area
 Major structures: thalamus, hypothalamus,
 Where the important pyramidal tracts cross
and epithalamus.
over to the opposite side
a) Thalamus  Contains centers that control heart rate,
 Surrounds the third ventricle blood pressure, breathing, swallowing, and
 The relay station for sensory impulses vomiting.
 Transfers impulses to the correct part of the
d) Reticular Formation
cortex for localization and interpretation
 Diffuse mass of gray matter
b) Hypothalamus  Its neurons are involved in motor control of
 Under the thalamus visceral organs.
 Important autonomic nervous system center  Reticular activating system (RAS) –
 Helps regulate body temperature consciousness and awake/sleep cycle.
 Controls water balance
D. Cerebellum
 Regulates metabolism
 Two hemispheres and a convoluted
 An important part of the limbic system surfaces
(emotions)
 Provides the precise timing for skeletal
 The pituitary gland is attached to it muscle activity and controls our balance
c) Epithalamus Master gland and equilibrium.
 Forms the roof of the third ventricle Protection of the Nervous System
 Houses the pineal gland (part of the
endocrine system) A. Meninges
 Includes the choroid plexus – forms  3 connective tissue membranes covering
cerebrospinal fluid and protecting the CNS
a) Dura mater
C. Brain Stem - Outermost layer
 Attaches to the spinal cord - ‘tough or hard mother’
 Control vital activities such as breathing - Double-layered membrane
and blood pressure - Periosteum – attached to the inner
surface of the skull
Parts of the Brain Stem
- Meningeal layer – outermost covering of the
a) Midbrain brain and continues as the dura mater of the
 Small part of the brain stem spinal cord
 Mostly composed of tracts of nerve fibers
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b) Arachnoid layer b) Contusion

- middle meningeal layer - a more severe TBI
- weblike - result of marked tissue destruction
Severe brain stem contusions always result
c) Pia mater
in coma
- innermost membrane
- clings tightly to the surface of the brain and c) Cerebral Edema
spinal cord - ‘intracranial hemorrhage’
- Swelling from the inflammatory response
Arachnoid villi
- May compress and kill brain tissue
 Through this, the cerebrospinal fluid is
absorbed into the venous blood in the dural Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)
sinuses  ‘stroke’
 result of a ruptured blood vessel supplying a
B. Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF)
region of the brain
 Similar to blood plasma composition
 Brain tissue supplied with oxygen from that
 Formed by the choroid plexus
blood source dies
 Forms a watery cushion to protect the brain
 Loss of some functions or may result in
 Circulated in arachnoid space, ventricles, death
and central canal of the spinal cord
 Contains less protein and more vitamin C Aphasias
compared to the blood  Result of damage to the left cerebral
hemisphere
 Motor apahasia – damage to Broca’s area
 Sensory aphasia – person loses the ability
to understand written or spoken language.
Alzheimer’s disease
 Ultimately results in dementia
 Progressive degenerative brain disease
 Mostly seen in the elderly, but may begin in
middle age
 Structural changes in the brain include
abnormal protein deposits and twisted fibers
within neurons
 Victims experience memory loss, irritability,
CSF Circulation
confusion and ultimately, hallucinations and
C. Blood Brain Barrier death
 Composed of the least permeable _________________________________________
capillaries of the body SPINAL CORD
 Excludes many potentially harmful
substances  Extends from the
 Useless against fats, respiratory gases, medulla oblongata
alcohol, nicotine, anesthesia, and other fat- to the region of
soluble molecules T12
 Below T12 is the
cauda equina (a
Traumatic Brain Injuries collection of spinal
a) Concussion nerves)
- Slight or mild brain injury  Enlargements
- Bleeding & tearing of nerve fibers occur in the
happened cervical and
- victim may lose consciousness briefly lumbar regions
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ANATOMY Classification of Nerves

 Exterior white matter - conduction tracts a) Mixed nerves – both sensory and motor fibers
 Internal gray matter - mostly cell bodies b) Afferent (sensory) nerves – carry impulses
- Dorsal (posterior) horns toward the CNS
- Anterior (ventral) horns c) Efferent (motor) nerves – carry impulses away
 Central canal filled with cerebrospinal from the CNS
fluid
Cranial Nerves
 12 pairs
 serves the head and neck
 Vagus nerves – only pair that that extends
to the thoracic and abdominal cavities
 Most are mixed nerves except the pairs of
optic, olfactory, and vestibulocochlear –
purely sensory in function
 “Oh, oh, oh, to touch and feel very good
velvet, ah heaven.”
 Meninges cover the spinal cord  I Olfactory nerve – sensory for smell
 Nerves leave at the level of each  II Optic nerve – sensory for vision
vertebrae  III Oculomotor nerve – motor fibers to eye
_________________________________________ muscles
 IV Trochlear – motor fiber to eye muscles
PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
 V Trigeminal nerve – sensory for the face;
 Consists of nerves and ganglia outside the motor fibers to chewing muscles
central nervous system  VI Abducens nerve – motor fibers to eye
 Nerve - bundle of neuron fibers muscles motor fibers to eye muscles
 Neuron fibers are bundled by connective  VII Facial nerve – sensory for taste; motor
tissue fibers to the face
 VIII Vestibulocochlear nerve – sensory for
Structure of a Nerve balance and hearing
 Endoneurium surrounds each fiber  IX Glossopharyngeal nerve – sensory for
 Groups of fibers are bound into fascicles by taste; motor fibers to the pharynx
perineurium  X Vagus nerves – sensory and motor fibers
 Fascicles are bound together by for pharynx, larynx, and viscera fibers for
epineurium pharynx, larynx, and viscera
 XI Accessory nerve – motor fibers to neck
and upper back
 XII Hypoglossal nerve – motor fibers to
tongue
Spinal Nerves

 31 pairs
 There is a pair of spinal nerves at the level
of each vertebrae
 Formed by the combination of the ventral
and dorsal roots of the spinal cord.
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Comparison of Somatic and Autonomic Nervous

Systems

A. Nerves
a) Somatic - one motor neuron; axons
extend all the way to the skeletal muscle
they serve
b) Autonomic – preganglionic and
postganglionic nerves
B. Effector organs
a) Somatic – skeletal muscle
b) Autonomic – smooth muscle, cardiac
muscle, and glands
C. Neurotransmitters
 Spinal nerves divide soon after leaving the a) Somatic - always use acetylcholine
spinal cord b) Autonomic - use acetylcholine,
 Dorsal rami – serve the skin and muscles epinephrine, or norepinephrine
of the posterior trunk
 Ventral rami – forms a complex of networks
(plexus) for the anterior, which serve the
motor and sensory needs of the limbs
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
 The involuntary branch of the nervous
system
 Consists of only motor nerves
 Divided into two divisions:
a) Sympathetic division – mobilizes the
body
b) Parasympathetic division – allows body Sympathetic Division: Anatomy
to unwind  Originates from T1 through L2
 Preganglionic axons leave the cord in the
ventral root, enter the spinal nerve, then
pass through a ramus communications, to
enter a sympathetic chain ganglion at the
sympathetic chain (trunk) (near the spinal
cord)
 Short pre-ganglionic neuron and long
postganglionic neuron transmit impulse from
CNS to the effector
 Norepinephrine and epinephrine are
neurotransmitters to the effector organs
Parasympathetic Division: Anatomy
 Originates from the brain stem and S2 – S4
 Neurons in the cranial region send axons
out in cranial nerves to the head and neck
organs
 They synapse with the second motor
neuron in a terminal ganglion
 Terminal ganglia are at the effector organs
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 Always uses acetylcholine as a

neurotransmitter
Autonomic Functioning
A. Sympathetic Division
 “fight-or-flight”
 Response to unusual stimulus
 Takes over to increase activities
 Remember as the “E” division = exercise,
excitement, emergency, and
embarrassment
B. Parasympathetic Division
 housekeeping activities
 Conserves energy
 Maintains daily necessary body functions
 Remember as the “D” division - digestion,
defecation, and diuresis
Developmental Aspects of the Nervous System
 The nervous system is formed during the
first month of embryonic development
 Any maternal infection can have extremely
harmful effects
 The hypothalamus is one of the last areas
of the brain to develop – contains centers
for regulating body temperature
 No more neurons are formed after birth, but
growth and maturation continues for several
years largely due to myelination
 The brain reaches maximum weight as a
young adult