NERVOUS SYSTEM PHYSIOLOGY

T1. Functions of the Nervous System. Major levels of the Central Nervous
System Function . Neural circuits.
T2. Sensory physiology.
T3. Somatic (general) sensibility.
T4. Chemical senses.
T5. Vision. Special Senses
T6. Hearing and equilibrium.
T7. Control of posture and locomotion.
T8. Behavioral and motivational mechanisms of the brain.
T9. Wakefulness and sleep.
T10. Higher Functions of the nervous system.
 The Electroencephalogram (EEG)
• Electrodes on the scalp detect synaptic potentials
produced in the cerebral cortex (electrical
activity in the brain).

• The undulations in the recorded electrical

potentials, are called brain waves and the entire
record is called an EEG (electroencephalogram).

• Intensity and patterns are determined by the level of excitation of

different parts of the brain resulting from sleep, wakefulness or brain
diseases such as epilepsy .

• Persistent absence of brain waves is common clinical and legal

criterion of brain death
 Origin of Brain Waves

• The discharge of a single neuron or single nerve fiber in the

brain can never be recorded from the surface of the head.
• Instead, many thousands or even millions of neurons or
fibers must fire synchronously; only then will the potentials
from the individual neurons or fibers summate enough to
be recorded all the way through the skull.
• Thus, the intensity of the brain waves from the scalp is
determined mainly by the numbers of neurons and fibers
that fire in synchrony with one another, not by the total
level of electrical activity in the brain.
• In fact, strong nonsynchronous nerve signals often nullify
one another in the recorded brain waves because of
opposing polarities
 Brain Waves
• Four patterns are of brain waves:
• Alpha-Daydreaming (occipital and
parietal lobes)
– awake and resting with eyes closed and mind
wandering 8-11 Hz
– suppressed when eyes open or performing a
mental task
• Beta-Alertness (frontal lobe)
– eyes open and performing mental tasks 12-30 Hz
– accentuated during mental activity and
sensory stimulation
• Theta-Drowsiness (occipital and temporal
lobes) 4-7 Hz
– drowsy or sleeping adults
– in awake adults indicates severe emotional
stress
• Delta-Sleep (all over the cerebrum) > 4 Hz
• deep sleep in adults and in an awake infant
 Sleep
• sleep occurs in cycles called circadian rhythms
– events that reoccur at intervals of about 24 hours

• sleep - unconsciousness from which one can wake up

when stimulated

– sleep paralysis - inhibition of muscular activity

– coma or hibernation – states of prolonged unconsciousness
where individuals cannot be aroused from those states by
sensory stimulation
 Sleep
• There are multiple stages of sleep, from very light
sleep to very deep sleep.
• During each night, a person goes through stages of
two types of sleep that alternate with each other:

– (1) slow-wave sleep, also called resting sleep. The

brain waves are very strong and very low
frequency

– (2) rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep). State

when dreams occur.
 Slow-wave sleep
• As you fall asleep, neurons decrease their firing
rates, decreasing blood flow and energy
metabolism.
• Breathing and heart rate are very regular.
• Non-REM sleep may allow repair of metabolic
damage done to cells by free radicals and allows
time for the neuroplasticity mechanisms
needed to store memories.
 Stages of Slow-wave sleep
• Divided into four stages determined by EEG
waves.
• Stage 1
– stage of very light sleep, the voltage of the EEG
waves becomes very low; broken by “sleep
spindles” (short bursts of alpha waves)
• Stage 2
– pass into light sleep.
• Stage 3
– moderate to deep sleep, muscles relax and vital
signs (body temperature, blood pressure, heart
and respiratory rate) fall
• Stage 4
– EEG dominated by low-frequency, high
amplitude delta waves
– muscles now very relaxed, vital signs at their
lowest, and we become more difficult to be
awaken
 REM Sleep
• Some brain regions are more active during
REM sleep than during the waking state.

• The limbic system (involved in emotion) is very

active during REM sleep.

• Breathing and heart rate may be very

irregular.
 Sleep Stages
• When people first fall asleep, they enter non-
REM sleep and progress through the four
stages.
• Next, a person ascends back up the stages of
non-REM sleep to REM sleep.
• This cycle repeats every 90 minutes, and most
people go through five per night.
• If allowed to awaken naturally, people usually
do so during REM sleep.
 Sleep Stages
Sleep spindles

Awake

Stage 1 REM
Stage

Drowsy sleep
Stage 2
Light sleep
Stage 3
Moderate to
deep sleep Stage 4
Deepest sleep
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time (min)
(a) One sleep cycle

Awake
REM REM REM REM REM
Stage 1
EEG stages

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (hr)
(b) Typical 8-hour sleep period
 Rhythm of Sleep
• rhythm of sleep is controlled by a complex interaction
between the cerebral cortex, thalamus, hypothalamus,
and reticular formation
– arousal induced in the upper reticular formation
– sleep induced by the hypothalamus

• suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) –

another important control center for
sleep
– input from eye allows SCN to synchronize multiple
body rhythms with external rhythms of night and
day
• sleep, body temperature, urine production,
secretion, and other functions
 Physiologic Effects of Sleep
• Sleep has a restorative effect:
– sleep may be the time to replenish such energy sources as glycogen and ATP
– Sleep may consolidate memories by reinforcing some synapses, and eliminating
others
• Sleep deprivation affects the functions of the central nervous
system.
– Prolonged wakefulness is associated with progressive malfunction of the thought
processes
– Sometimes causes abnormal behavioral activities.

• The principal value of sleep is to restore natural balances among

the neuronal centers.
• The specific physiologic functions of sleep remain a mystery, and
they are the subject of much research.