Organization of Nervous System

Neurophysiology
Organization of the nervous

system
9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

Introduction
• Communications and control network that
allows an organism to rapidly interact with its
environment
– External environment (outside the body)
– Internal environment (components and cavities of body)
• It receives millions of information in just a
minute from sensory nerves and sensory organs
– Integrates all these to determine responses to be made
by the body

Basic nervous system functions
• Sensory Input – Provides the central nervous
system with information about the internal and
external environment
• Integration - CNS takes all the incoming
information, interprets it, then selects an
appropriate response
• Motor Output - Executes the central nervous
system commands to effect the appropriate
physical response

Organization of nervous system
• Central Nervous System (CNS)
– Brain and spinal cord
• Integration and command center
• Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
– Neurons outside the CNS
• Paired spinal and cranial nerves
– Sensory division
– Afferent fibers transmit impulses from receptors to
CNS
• Motor division
– Efferent fibers transmit impulses from CNS to effector
organs

Levels of CNS function
• There are three major levels of central
nervous system (CNS) function:
– Spinal cord level
– Lower brain or subcortical level
– Higher brain or cortical level

Spinal cord level
• Neuronal circuits in the spinal cord can cause:
– Walking movements
– Withdrawal reflexes for taking the portion of the
body away from painful object
– Reflexes which stiffen the legs to support the body
against gravity
– Reflexes that control local blood vessels,
gastrointestinal movements, etc
– Reflexes that control micturition

Subcortical level
• Most of the subconscious activities of the body
are controlled in medulla, pons, hypothalamus,
thalamus, cerebellum and basal ganglia, e.g.
– Subconscious control of arterial blood pressure and
respiration
– Control of equilibrium
– Feeding reflexes e.g. salivation in response to taste of
food
– Expression of emotions like anger, excitement,
sexual response, reaction to pain, etc
Cortical level
• Cortex always functions in association with
lower centers of nervous system
• Cortex acts as vast storehouse and cortical
information is utilized to convert lower brain
function to precise operations
• Cerebral cortex is responsible for thought
processes
• Lower brain centers initiate wakefulness in the
cerebral cortex
The nervous tissue
• Nervous system is made up of cells, connective
tissue, and blood vessels
• Major cell types are neurons (nerve cells) and
glia (neuroglia = “nerve glue”)
• Basic function of a neuron is to generate
signals sent to other neurons or effector cells
• The points where specific neuron-to-neuron
communication occurs are known as synapses
– Synaptic transmission is critical to neuronal function

The nervous tissue
• Neuroglial cells are connective tissue cells
• Can divide throughout the life but cannot
conduct the impulse
• They are of the following five types:
– Astrocytes
– Oligodendrocytes
– Microglial cells
– Ependymal cells
– Satellite cells

Nervous tissue
• Astrocytes are star-shaped cells with many
processes that form skeleton for CNS
– They provide framework and support the neuronal
cells
– They form insulation around synapses to prevent
spread of impulse
– Their processes and footplates on the walls of blood
vessels contribute to formation of blood-brain
barrier

Nervous tissue
• Oligodendrocytes are smaller than astrocytes
and have few processes
– They form myelin sheath for nerves present within
the CNS
– They are called Schwann cells in the peripheral
nervous system
• Microglia are smaller than oligodendrocytes
– Carry out phagocytosis to clear the cellular debris
after injury
Nervous tissue
• Ependymal cells line the ventricles in brain and
spinal cord
– They are ciliated columnar cells
– They secrete cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)
• Satellite cells are encapsulate dorsal root and
cranial nerve ganglion cells
– They regulate their microenvironment in a
fashion similar to that of astrocytes

The neuron
• Neuron or nerve cell is the structural and
functional unit of the nervous system
• Neuron consists of three main parts
– Cell body(perikaryon or soma)
– Dendrites
– Axon

The neuron
• Cell body is the main genetic and metabolic
center of the neuron
– Contains the nucleus and nucleolus
– Also possesses a well-developed biosynthetic
apparatus that includes
• Nissl bodies(stack of endoplasmic reticulum) and Golgi
apparatus
– Also contains mitochondria, and cytoskeletal
elements(neurofilaments and microtubules)
– Region in which the neuron receives synaptic input

The neuron
• Dendrites are tapering and branching extensions
of the soma
– These are the processes which bring information
towards the soma
– A neuron’s set of dendrites is called dendritic
tree
– Dendritic trees differ among different types of
neurons in terms of size, number, and spatial
organization of the dendrites

The neuron
• An axon is an extension of the cell that conveys
the output of the cell to other neurons
• Axon lack rough endoplasmic reticulum, free
ribosomes, and Golgi apparatus
• Usually each neuron has only one axon, and it is
usually of uniform diameter
• The length and diameter of axons vary with the
neuronal type

The neuron
• First part of the axon is called initial segment
• Initial segment arises from the soma in a
specialized region called the axon hillock
• Initial segment is usually the site where action
potentials (spikes) that are propagated down the
axon are initiated
• An axon may terminate in a synapse and/or it
may make synapses along its length

Axonal transport
• Neurons transport their secretory products from
cell body to nerve terminal or vice versa and
other substances by axoplasmic flow
• Two types of axoplasmic flow
– Orthograde
– Retrograde

Axonal transport
Orthograde transport moves from the cell
body toward the axon terminals
– Occurs along microtubules that run along the length
of the axon
– It requires two molecular motors, dynein and
kinesin
– It has both fast and slow components
• Fast axonal transport occurs at about 400 mm/day
• Slow axonal transport occurs at 0.5 to 10 mm/day

Axonal transport
• Retrograde transport moves from the nerve
ending to the cell body
– It occurs along microtubules at about 200 mm/day
– Moves some an unrecycled vesicles back to the cell
body where they deposited in lysosomes
– Moves some materials taken up at the ending by
endocytosis e.g. nerve growth factor (NGF) and
various viruses

Classification of neurons
• Anatomical classification
– Based on shape and number of processes
• Unipolar neurons
• Pseudounipolar neurons
• Bipolar neurons
• Multipolar neurons
• Functional classification
– Based on direction of conduction of impulse
• Sensory(afferent neurons)
• Motor(efferent neurons)
• Interneurons

• Unipolar neurons have one axon and no
dendrite
– Found in invertebrates
• Pseudounipolar neurons have single process
close to soma that divide into two branches
– One branch extends to peripheral ending and the
other branch extends to the CNS
– Found in dorsal root ganglia and most cranial ganglia

• Bipolar neurons have one axon and one dendrite
– Found in cochlea, vestibular ganglia, retina and
olfactory mucosa
• Multipolar neurons have axon and multiple
dendrites
– Examples include motor neurons, betz cells and
purkinje cells in cerebellum

• Sensory(afferent) neurons
– Transmit impulses into the central nervous system
from receptors at their peripheral endings
– Cell body and long peripheral process of the axon
are in the PNS
• Motor(efferent neurons)
– Transmit impulses out of the CNS to effector cells
– Cell body, dendrites, and a small segment of axon
are in the CNS and most of axon in PNS
• Interneurons
– Integrate groups of afferent and efferent
neurons into reflex circuits
– Lie entirely within the CNS
– Account for 99% of all neurons

The nerve fibers
• A nerve is a bundle of nerve cell axons wrapped
in connective tissue that conveys impulses
between the central nervous system and some
other parts of the body
• Has a tough outer covering, epineurium
• Inside are the long fibrous axons or dendrites of
individual neurons, gathered into bundles called
fascicles, wrapped in the perinurium

The nerve fibers
• Each axon within these bundles is further
wrapped by a myelin sheath formed by Schwann
cells, to keep the nervous impulses insulated
• Most large nerves are mixed (contain both
motor and sensory nerve fibres) running to and
from a particular region of the body

Classification of nerve fibers

END!

Organization of Nervous System

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Organization of Nervous System

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Neurophysiology

Organization of the nervous

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

9/3/2020 Dr. Hamambulu(MSc, BVM)

You might also like