The Nervous System

The nervous system makes sense of the stimuli and reacts in a way that promotes your survival.

Neurons

 Conduct electrical impulses that allow cells tissue and organs to detect and respond to
stimuli.
 Specialized cells that help you gather information about the environment, interpret the
information, and react on it.
 Neurons make up an enormous communication network in your body called the nervous
system.

Regions of a neuron

 Dendrites:
It receives signals, called impulses, from other neurons.

 Cell body:
It contains the nucleus and many organelles.

 Axon:
It carries the nerve impulse from the cell body to other neurons and muscles.
Kinds of neurons

 Sensory neurons:
These neurons are responsible for converting various external stimuli that arise from the
environment of an organism into internal electrical impulses. They are activated by
sensory input, and send projections (from receptors in the skin) to other elements of
the nervous system, ultimately conveying sensory information to the brain or spinal cord.
Sensory neurons are activated by physical modalities such as visible light, sound, heat,
physical contact, etc., or by chemical signals for example in the case of smell or taste.

 Interneurons:
An interneuron (also called relay neuron, association neuron, connector neuron or local
circuit neuron) is a neuron that forms a connection between other neurons. Interneurons
are neither motor nor sensory. The term is also applied to brain and spinal cord neurons
whose axons connect only with nearby neurons, to distinguish them from "projection"
neurons, whose axons project to more distant regions of the brain or spinal cord.

 Motor neurons:
Neurons located in the central nervous system (CNS) that project their axons outside the
CNS to directly or indirectly control muscles. Motor neurons are efferent nerves, also
called effector neurons, that carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce
(effect) movement. Examples of motor neurons are primary motor neurons, alpha motor
neurons, beta motor neurons and gamma motor neurons.

Process

1. Sensory neurons send impulses from receptors in the skin to the brain and spinal cord.
2. These (sensory) neurons signal interneurons, which are found in the spinal cord and brain.
3. Interneurons carry the impulse to motor neurons, which results in a response.

Reflex arc:

 It is an involuntary reflex.
 Consists of a sensory neuron, and interneuron, and a motor neuron, yet the brain isn’t
involved.
 It is the basic structure of a nervous system.
Nerve impulse:

 It is an electrical charge traveling the length of a neuron. An impulse results from stimulus
such as a touch.
 Sodium ion and potassium ion are involved in this process.
 Neuron at rest (not conducting an impulse): There are more sodium ions outside the cell
than inside the cell.
 There are more potassium ions inside the cell than outside the cell.

Sodium –potassium pump

 Ions tend to diffuse across the plasma membrane from an area of high concentration to an
area of low concentration.
 Proteins in the plasma membrane work to counteract the diffusion of sodium and
potassium ions.

An action potential

 Nerve impulse = action potential.

 The minimum stimulus can produce an action potential.
 Important* A stronger stimulus does not generate a stronger action potential  “all or
nothing”.
Phases:

1. Resting state:
The cell is at rest and sodium (positive) ions are outside as well as potassium (negative)
ions are inside.

 Resting membrane potential:

The difference in charge between the interior (negative) and the exterior
(positive) of the cell.

2. Depolarizing phase:
As various voltage-gated sodium channels open, the cell gets depolarized, creating a
positive charge inside the cell and a negative charge outside the cell.

 Action potential:
One by one, each of the various voltage-gated sodium channels get affected
causing more voltage-gated sodium channels to open, moving the depolarization
along the membrane. This moving depolarization is called action potential.

3. Repolarizing phase:
Once the depolarizing phase has ended, sodium ions stop passing in order to restore the
resting membrane potential (negative charge inside the cell and positive charge outside
the cell) again. Hence the cell enters the repolarizing phase, so, now, a new pump opens,
letting potassium ions to get out of the cell.

4. Undershoot
Also known as hyperpolarization, during this phase, the continued movement of
potassium ions out of the cell is what causes undershoot. This occurs because during this
time pNa (permeability changes in sodium) is at its resting value, but pK (permeability
changes in potassium) is higher than its resting value. Therefore, potassium movement out
of the cell will tend to move the Vm (membrane potential) closer to VK. Finally, pK returns
to its value at rest, and at this time the membrane potential also returns to baseline at its
resting value of about −70 mV.

1. Resting state
*Why do we consume Gatorade?

To hydrate ourselves, yet they have ions. So the sodium-potassium pumps work perfectly and the
stimulus occurs normally.

 When a stimulus reaches, channels in the plasma membrane open.

 This moves like a wave along the length of the axon.
Speed of the action potential nerve impulse

 The speed varies depending on a covering of lipids called myelin.

 Myelin forms an insulating layer around the axon. Along the myelin there are gaps called
nodes where sodium and potassium ions can diffuse.
 Neurons with myelin carry impulses associated with sharp pain. This increases the speed
of the impulse because the nerve impulse jumps from node to node.
 Neurons lacking myelin carry impulses associated with dull, throbbing pain; its action is
slower.

Synapse

 Small gap between the axon and the dendrites of another neuron.
 When an action potential reaches the end of an axon, small sacs called vesicles carrying
neurotransmitters fuse with the plasma membrane of the other neuron.

Neurotransmitter

It is a chemical diffuse across a synapse and bind to receptors on the dendrites of the neighboring
neuron.

*Calcium liberates/stimulates neurotransmitters.

Nervous system organization

1. Central Nervous System (CNS)

 The brain and the spinal cord make it up.
 CNS is mostly made of interneurons.
 It coordinates all of the body’s activities.
 Relays messages, processes info, and analyzes responses.

2. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

 It consists of the sensory neurons and motor neurons that carry info to and from
the CNS.
 They can be found all over the body.