The Nervous System

Functions of the Nervous System

• Sensory input – gathering information
• To monitor changes occurring inside and outside
the body
• Changes = stimuli
• Integration
• To process and interpret sensory input and decide
if action is needed
• Motor output
• A response to integrated stimuli
• The response activates muscles or glands
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 Structural Classification of the Nervous
System
• Central nervous system (CNS)
• Brain and Spinal cord
• Acts as integrating and command center – interpret
incoming sensory information and issue instructions
based on past experiences and current conditions
• Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
• Nerves outside the brain and spinal cord
• Link all parts of the body by carrying impulses to the
CNS and back
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 Functional Classification of the
Peripheral Nervous System
• Sensory (afferent) division
• Nerve fibers that carry information to the
central nervous system

Figure 7.1
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 Functional Classification of the
Peripheral Nervous System
• Motor (efferent) division
• Nerve fibers that carry impulses away from
the central nervous system

Figure 7.1
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 Functional Classification of the
Peripheral Nervous System
• Motor (efferent) division
• Two subdivisions
• Somatic nervous system = voluntary
nervous system
• Skeletal muscle reflexes such as stretch
reflex are initiated involuntarily by same
fibers
• Autonomic nervous system = involuntary
nervous system
• Sympathetic and parasympathetic
divisions
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 Organization of the Nervous System

Figure 7.2

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 Nervous Tissue: Support Cells
(Neuroglia) - glia
• Astrocytes
• Abundant, star-shaped cells
• Brace neurons
• Form barrier
between capillaries
and neurons and make
exchanges between Figure 7.3a
the two
• Control the chemical
environment of
the brain by capturing ions and
neurotransmitters
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 Nervous Tissue: Support Cells
• Microglia
• Spider-like phagocytes
• Dispose of debris –
dead cells and bacteria
• Ependymal cells
• Line cavities of the
brain and spinal cord
• Circulate
cerebrospinal
fluid with cilia
Figure 7.3b, c
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 Nervous Tissue: Support Cells
• Oligodendrocytes
• Wrap their flat
extensions tightly
around the nerve
fibers
• Produce myelin
sheath around nerve
fibers in the central
Figure 7.3d
nervous system
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 Nervous Tissue: Support Cells
• Satellite cells
• Protect neuron cell bodies
• Schwann cells
• Form myelin sheath in the peripheral nervous
system
• Neuroglia are not able to transmit nerve impulses but
do not lose their ability to divide, unlike neurons
Figure 7.3e

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 Nervous Tissue: Neurons

• Neurons = nerve cells

• Cells specialized to transmit messages
• Major regions of neurons
• Cell body – nucleus and metabolic center
of the cell
• Processes – fibers that extend from the
cell body

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 Neuron Anatomy
• Cell body
• Nissl
substance –
specialized
rough
endoplasmic
reticulum
• Neurofibrils –
intermediate
cytoskeleton
that maintains
cell shape Figure 7.4a

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 Neuron Anatomy

• Cell body
• Nucleus
• Large
nucleolus

Figure 7.4a

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 Neuron Anatomy
• Extensions
outside the cell
body
• Dendrites –
conduct
impulses toward
the cell body
• Axons – conduct
impulses away
from the cell
body
Figure 7.4a

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 Axons and Nerve Impulses

• Axons end in axonal terminals

• Axonal terminals contain vesicles with
neurotransmitters
• Axonal terminals are separated from the
next neuron by a gap
• Synaptic cleft – gap between adjacent
neurons
• Synapse – junction between nerves
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 Nerve Fiber Coverings

• Schwann cells –
produce myelin
sheaths in jelly-roll

• Nodes of Ranvier –
gaps in myelin
sheath along the
axon
Figure 7.5

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 Neuron Cell Body Location
• Most are found in the central nervous system in
clusters called nuclei
• Bundles of nerve fibers in CNS = tracts
• Gray matter – cell bodies and
unmyelinated fibers
• White matter – myelinated fibers
• Bundles of nerve fibers in PNS = nerves
• Ganglia – collections of cell bodies outside the
central nervous system Slide 7.18
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 Functional Classification of Neurons
• Sensory (afferent) neurons
• Cell bodies in a ganglion outside the CNS
• Carry impulses from the sensory receptors to CNS
• Cutaneous (skin) sense organs
• Proprioceptors – detect stretch or tension in
muscles, tendons, joints
• Motor (efferent) neurons
• Cell bodies found in the CNS
• Carry impulses from the central nervous system
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 Functional Classification of Neurons

• Interneurons (association neurons)

• Found in neural pathways in the central
nervous system
• Cell bodies in the CNS
• Connect sensory and motor neurons

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 Neuron Classification

Figure 7.6

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 Structural Classification of Neurons

• Multipolar neurons – many extensions

from the cell body

Figure 7.8a

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 Structural Classification of Neurons

• Bipolar neurons – one axon and one

dendrite
• Rare in adults – in eye and ear only

Figure 7.8b

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 Structural Classification of Neurons

• Unipolar neurons – have a short, single

process leaving the cell body
• Axon conducts nerve impulses both to and
from the cell body

Figure 7.8c

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 Functional Properties of Neurons
• Two main functions
• Irritability – ability to respond to stimuli
• Conductivity – ability to transmit an
impulse

• The plasma membrane at rest is polarized

• Fewer positive ions (usually K+) are inside the
cell than outside the cell (usually Na+)
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 Starting a Nerve Impulse
• Depolarization – a
stimulus depolarizes the
neuron’s membrane
• A deploarized membrane
allows sodium (Na+) to
flow inside the membrane
• The exchange of ions
initiates an action
potential (nerve impulse)
in the neuron
Figure 7.9a–c
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 The Action Potential
• If the action potential (nerve impulse) starts, it is
propagated over the entire axon – all-or-none
response
• Potassium ions rush out of the neuron after
sodium ions rush in, which repolarizes the
membrane
• The sodium-potassium pump restores the
original configuration
• This action requires ATP
• Until repolarization occurs, a neuron cannot
conduct another impulse Slide 7.27
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 Nerve Impulse Propagation
• The impulse continues to
move toward the cell body
• Impulses travel faster
when fibers have a myelin
sheath
• Nerve impulse literally
jumps from node to
node because it cannot
cross myelin insulation
Figure 7.9c–e

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 Continuation of the Nerve Impulse
between Neurons
• Impulses are unable to cross the synapse to
another nerve
• Neurotransmitter is released from a nerve’s axon
terminal
• The dendrite of the next neuron has receptors
that are stimulated by the neurotransmitter
• An action potential is started in the dendrites of
the next neuron
• Transmission of an impulse is an electrochemical
event
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 How Neurons Communicate at
Synapses

Figure 7.10
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 The Reflex Arc

• Reflex – rapid, predictable, and

involuntary responses to stimuli
• Reflex arc – direct route from a sensory
neuron, to an interneuron, to an effector

Figure 7.11a

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 Simple Reflex Arc

Figure 7.11b, c

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 Types of Reflexes and Regulation
• Autonomic reflexes
• Smooth muscle regulation
• Size of eye pupils
• Heart and blood pressure regulation
• Regulation of glands and sweating
• Digestive system and elimination regulation
• Somatic reflexes
• Activation of skeletal muscles
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 Types of Reflexes and Regulation
• Reflex arcs have a minimum five elements
• A sensory receptor – reacts to stimuli
• An effector receptor – muscle or gland
stimulated
• Afferent and efferent neurons connecting
the two
• The CNS integration center

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 Central Nervous System (CNS)
• CNS develops from the embryonic neural
tube – a simple tube
• The neural tube becomes the brain and spinal
cord
• The opening of the neural tube becomes the
ventricles
• Four chambers within the brain
• Filled with cerebrospinal fluid

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 Regions of the Brain

• Cerebral hemispheres
• Diencephalon
• Brain stem
• Cerebellum

Figure 7.12

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 Cerebral Hemispheres (Cerebrum)

• Paired (left
and right)
superior parts
of the brain
• Include more
than half of
the brain
mass
Figure 7.13a

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 Cerebral Hemispheres (Cerebrum)

• The surface is
made of
elevated ridges
(gyri) and
shallow grooves
(sulci)

Figure 7.13a

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 Lobes of the Cerebrum

• Fissures (deep grooves) divide the

cerebrum into lobes
• Surface lobes of the cerebrum – named for
cranial bone over them
• Frontal lobe
• Parietal lobe
• Occipital lobe
• Temporal lobe
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 Lobes of the Cerebrum

Figure 7.15a

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 Specialized Areas of the Cerebrum
• Somatic sensory area in parietal lobe –
receives impulses from the body’s sensory
receptors (except special senses)
• Occipital lobe – vision and temporal lobe
– auditory
• Primary motor area – sends impulses to
skeletal muscles – frontal lobe
• Broca’s area – involved in our ability to
speak – base of the precentral gyrus
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 Sensory and Motor Areas of the
Cerebral Cortex

Figure 7.14

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 Specialized Area of the Cerebrum

• Cerebral areas involved in special

senses
• Gustatory area (taste)
• Visual area
• Auditory area
• Olfactory area

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 Specialized Area of the Cerebrum

• Interpretation areas of the cerebrum

• Speech/language region
• Language comprehension region
• General interpretation area

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 Specialized Area of the Cerebrum

Figure 7.13c

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 Layers of the Cerebrum

• Gray matter
• Outermost layer
• Composed
mostly of neuron
cell bodies
• Cerebral cortex

Figure 7.13a

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 Layers of the Cerebrum

• White matter
• Fiber tracts
inside the gray
matter
• Example:
corpus callosum
connects
hemispheres
Figure 7.13a

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 Layers of the Cerebrum
• Basal nuclei –
internal islands
of gray matter
• Helps regulate
voluntary motor
activities by
modifying
instructions sent
to the skeletal
muscles Figure 7.13a

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 Diencephalon - interbrain

• Sits on top of the brain stem

• Enclosed by the cerebral hemispheres
• Made of three parts
• Thalamus
• Hypothalamus
• Epithalamus

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 Diencephalon

Figure 7.15

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 Thalamus

• Surrounds the third ventricle of the brain

• The relay station for sensory impulses
passing upward to the sensory cortex
• Transfers impulses to the correct part of
the cortex for localization and
interpretation

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 Hypothalamus

• Under the thalamus

• Important autonomic nervous system
center
• Helps regulate body temperature
• Controls water balance
• Regulates metabolism

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 Hypothalamus

• An important part of the limbic system

(emotions) – emotional-visceral brain
• The pituitary gland is attached to and
regulated by the hypothalamus

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 Epithalamus

• Forms the roof of the third ventricle

• Houses the pineal body (an endocrine
gland)
• Includes the choroid plexus – forms
cerebrospinal fluid

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 Brain Stem

• Attaches to the spinal cord

• Parts of the brain stem
• Midbrain
• Pons
• Medulla oblongata

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 Brain Stem

Figure 7.15a

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 Midbrain
• Mostly composed of tracts of nerve fibers
• The cerebral aqueduct – canal that connects
the 3rd ventricle of the diencephalon to the 4th
ventricle
• Has two bulging fiber tracts – cerebral
peduncles – convey ascending and descending
impulses
• Has four rounded protrusions – corpora
quadrigemina – Reflex centers for vision and
hearing
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 Pons

• The bulging center part of the brain

stem
• Mostly composed of fiber tracts
• Includes nuclei involved in the control of
breathing

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 Medulla Oblongata
• The lowest part of the brain stem
• Merges into the spinal cord
• Includes important fiber tracts
• Contains important control centers
• Heart rate control
• Blood pressure regulation
• Breathing
• Swallowing
• Vomiting
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 Reticular Formation

• Diffuse mass of gray matter along the

brain stem
• Involved in motor control of visceral
organs
• Reticular activating system plays a role in
awake/sleep cycles and consciousness
• Damage here results in a permanent
coma
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 Reticular Formation

Figure 7.15b

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 Cerebellum

• Two hemispheres with convoluted

surfaces
• Provides involuntary coordination of body
movements – of skeletal muscles, balance
and equilibrium
• Automatic pilot – continually comparing
brain’s intentions with actual body
performance

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 Cerebellum

Figure 7.15a

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 Protection of the Central Nervous
System
• Scalp and skin • Cerebrospinal fluid
• Skull and vertebral • Blood brain barrier
column
• Meninges

Figure 7.15a

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 Meninges
• Dura mater
• Double-layered external covering the brain
• Periosteum – attached to surface of the
skull
• Meningeal layer – outer covering of the
brain and continues as the dura matter of
the spinal cord
•Folds inward in several areas that
attaches the brain to cranial cavity
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 Meninges
• Arachnoid layer
• Middle layer that is web-like
• Pia mater
• Internal layer that clings to the surface of the brain
following every fold
• Subarachnoid space filled with cerebrospinal
fluid
• Arachnoid villi – projections of arachnoid
membrane protruding through the dura matter
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 Cerebrospinal Fluid
• Similar to blood plasma composition
• Less protein, more vitamin C, different ions
• Formed by the choroid plexus
• Forms a watery cushion to protect the brain
• Circulated in arachnoid space, ventricles,
and central canal of the spinal cord

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 Ventricles and Location of the
Cerebrospinal Fluid

Figure 7.17a

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 Ventricles and Location of the
Cerebrospinal Fluid

Figure 7.17b

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 Blood Brain Barrier
• Includes the least permeable capillaries of
the body – only H2O, glucose, and essential
amino acids get through
• Excludes many potentially harmful
substances
• Useless against some substances
• Fats and fat soluble molecules
• Respiratory gases
• Alcohol
• Nicotine
• Anesthesia Slide 7.70
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 Traumatic Brain Injuries
• Concussion
• Slight brain injury – dizzy or lose consciousness
briefly
• No permanent brain damage
• Contusion
• Nervous tissue destruction occurs - does not
regenerate
• If cortex is damaged, coma for hours or life
• Cerebral edema
• Swelling from the inflammatory response
• May compress and kill brain tissue Slide 7.71
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 Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)
• Commonly called a stroke
• The result of a clot or a ruptured blood
vessel supplying a region of the brain
• Brain tissue supplied with oxygen from
that blood source dies
• Loss of some functions or death may
result

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 Alzheimer’s Disease
• 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, confusion and ultimately,
hallucinations and death
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 Spinal Cord
• Extends from the
medulla oblongata to
the region of T12
• Below T12 is the cauda
equina (a collection of
spinal nerves)
• Enlargements occur in
the cervical and lumbar
regions
Figure 7.18
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 Spinal Cord Anatomy

• Internal gray matter - mostly cell bodies

that surround the central canal of the cord
• Dorsal (posterior) horns
• Anterior (ventral) horns
• Contains motor neurons of the somatic
nervous system, which send their axons out
the ventral root
• Together they fuse to form the spinal nerves
• Nerves leave at the level of each vertebrae
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 Spinal Cord Anatomy
• Cell bodies of sensory neurons, whose fibers
enter the cord by the dorsal root, are found in an
enlarged area called the dorsal root ganglion
• Damage to this area causes sensation from the
body area served to be lost

Figure 7.19

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 Spinal Cord Anatomy
• Exterior white mater – conduction tracts
• Posterior, lateral, and anterior columns
• Each contains a number of fiber tracts make
up of axons with the same destination and
function

Figure 7.19

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 Spinal Cord Anatomy

• Central canal filled with cerebrospinal

fluid

Figure 7.19

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 Peripheral Nervous System

• Nerves and ganglia outside the central

nervous system
• Nerve = bundle of neuron fibers
• Neuron fibers are bundled by a
connective tissue sheath

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 Structure of a Nerve

• Endoneurium
surrounds each fiber
• Groups of fibers are
bound into fascicles
by perineurium
• Fascicles are bound
together by
epineurium
Figure 7.20
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 Classification of Nerves

• Classified according to the direction in

which they transmit impulses
• Mixed nerves – carry both sensory and
motor fibers – spinal nerves
• Afferent (sensory) nerves – carry
impulses toward the CNS
• Efferent (motor) nerves – carry impulses
away from the CNS
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 Cranial Nerves

• 12 pairs of nerves that mostly serve the

head and neck
• Numbered in order, front to back – names
reveal structures they control
• Most are mixed nerves, but three are
sensory only
• Optic, olfactory, and vestibulocochlear
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 Distribution
of Cranial
Nerves

Figure 7.21
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 Cranial Nerves

• I Olfactory nerve – sensory for smell

• II Optic nerve – sensory for vision
• III Oculomotor nerve – motor fibers to
eye muscles
• IV Trochlear – motor fiber to eye
muscles

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 Cranial Nerves

• V Trigeminal nerve – sensory for the

face; motor fibers to chewing muscles
• VI Abducens nerve –
motor fibers to eye muscles
• VII Facial nerve – sensory for taste;
motor fibers to the face
• VIII Vestibulocochlear nerve –
sensory for balance and hearing

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 Cranial Nerves

• IX Glossopharyngeal nerve – sensory

for taste; motor fibers to the pharynx
• X Vagus nerves – sensory and motor
fibers for pharynx, larynx, and viscera
• XI Accessory nerve – motor fibers to
neck and upper back
• XII Hypoglossal nerve – motor fibers to
tongue

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 Spinal Nerves

• There is a pair of spinal nerves at the

level of each vertebrae for a total of 31
pairs
• Spinal nerves are formed by the
combination of the ventral and dorsal
roots of the spinal cord
• Spinal nerves are named for the region
from which they arise

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 Spinal Nerves

Figure 7.22a
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 Anatomy of Spinal Nerves
• Spinal nerves divide
soon after leaving the
spinal cord
• Dorsal rami – serve the
skin and muscles 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
Figure 7.22b

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 Examples of Nerve Distribution

Figure 7.23

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 Autonomic Nervous System

• The involuntary branch of the nervous

system
• Consists of only motor nerves
• Divided into two divisions
• Sympathetic division – mobilizes the body
• Parasympathetic division – allows body to
unwind

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 Differences Between Somatic and
Autonomic Nervous Systems
• Nerves
• Somatic – one motor neuron – axons extend
all the way to the skeletal muscle they serve
•
postganglionic nerves
• Effector organs
• Somatic – skeletal muscle
• Autonomic – smooth muscle, cardiac muscle,
and glands
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 Differences Between Somatic and
Autonomic Nervous Systems

• Nerurotransmitters
• Somatic – always use acetylcholine
• Autominic – use acetylcholine, epinephrine,
or norepinephrine

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 Comparison of Somatic and
Autonomic Nervous Systems

Copyright © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings Figure 7.24 Slide 7.94
 Anatomy of the Parasympathetic
Division
• 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
• Always uses acetylcholine as a
neurotransmitter
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 Anatomy of the Sympathetic
Division – thoracolumbar division
• 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
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 Sympathetic Pathways

Figure 7.26

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 Anatomy of the Autonomic Nervous
System

Figure 7.25

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 Autonomic Functioning

• Sympathetic – “fight-or-flight”
• Response to unusual stimulus
• Takes over to increase activities
• Remember as the “E” division = exercise,
excitement, emergency, and
embarrassment

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 Autonomic Functioning

• Parasympathetic – housekeeping
activites
• Conserves energy
• Maintains daily necessary body functions
• Remember as the “D” division - digestion,
defecation, and diuresis

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 Development 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

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 Development Aspects of the
Nervous System

• 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

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