PowerPoint Lecture Slide Presentation by Patty Bostwick-Taylor, Florence-Darlington Technical College

The Nervous System

PART A

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Functions of the Nervous System

Sensory input - monitor changes (stimuli) occurring inside and outside the body Integration - process and interpret sensory input and decide if action is needed

Motor output - respond to stimuli (activate muscles or glands)

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Functions of the Nervous System

Figure 7.1
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Structural Classification
Central nervous system (CNS) Brain & Spinal cord -

Peripheral nervous system (PNS) - Nerves outside the brain and spinal cord (spinal nerves & cranial nerves)

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Functional Classification
Sensory (afferent) division

- Nerve fibers that carry information to the central nervous system Motor (efferent) division
- Nerve fibers that carry impulses away from the central nervous system
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Functional Classification
Sensory (afferent) division

A. somatic sensory fibers

- impulses from skin, joints, and skeletal muscles B. visceral sensory fibers

- impulses from visceral (internal) organs

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Functional Classification
Motor (efferent) division

- Two subdivisions
Somatic nervous system = voluntary Autonomic nervous system = involuntary

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Organization of the Nervous System

**Look at this chart on page 230 of your text

Figure 7.2
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Nervous Tissue: Support Cells

Support cells in the CNS are grouped together as neuroglia ; function is to support, insulate, and protect neurons

Examples: Astrocytes, Microglia, Ependymal cells, Oligodendrocytes, Satellite cells

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

PNS: Structure of a Nerve

Figure 7.23
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Neurons = nerve cells

*Cells specialized to transmit messages

Cell body (with nucleus) - control center Dendrites - conduct impulses toward the cell body Axons - conduct impulses away from the cell body
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Nervous Tissue: Neurons

Figure 7.4
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Structural Classification of Neurons

Figure 7.8a
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Nervous Tissue: Neurons

Axons end in axonal terminals Axonal terminals contain vesicles with neurotransmitters (chemical signal) Axonal terminals are separated from the next neuron by a gap Synaptic cleft - gap between adjacent neurons Synapse - junction between nerves
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

axonal terminal

Synapse

neurotransmitter

Synaptic cleft

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Nervous Tissue: Neurons

Myelin sheath tightly wrapped whitish, fatty/waxy material (myelin) covering axons, produced by Schwann cells; protects and insulates nerve fibers, and increases transmission rate

Nodes of Ranvier - gaps in myelin sheath along the axon Neurilemma part of Schwann cell that contains cytoplasm and nucleus, on top of the myelin sheath
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Nervous Tissue: Neurons

Figure 7.5
Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings

Neuron Cell Body Location

Most are found in the CNS (processing) Gray mattercell bodies (mostly near surface of brain) Nucleiclusters of cell bodies within the white matter of the central nervous system

Gangliacollections of cell bodies outside the central nervous system

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings