NEUROSCIENCE

NERVOUS SYSTEM
Lecture 1 ▪ PPT
August 1, 2019 ▪ Audio, notes - Control the functions of the body
Dr. Allan Viado ▪ Book (Snell)

OVERVIEW
I. Introduction to Nervous System
II. The Neurobiology of neurons and neuroglia / The synapse
A. Neurons
B. Synapse

I. INTRODUCTION TO NERVOUS SYSTEM

❖ Sensory output – monitoring
stimuli occurring inside or
outside the body (receptors)
Sensory/Afferent
❖ Integration (Processing of the
PNS SNS information)
❖ Motor output – effector organ
Nervous System Motor/Efferent

CNS ANS

CNS PNS
Composition • Brain • Nerves
• Spinal Cord ➢ Cranial(12 pairs)
– motor or sensory
or both
➢ Spinal (31 pairs)
- both sensory and
motor NOTE
(8 cervical, 12
➢ Sensory (Sensation)
thoracic, 5 lumbar,
- Afferent : Somatic and
5 sacral, 1
coccygeal) visceral
➢ Peripheral - Conducting impulses
- both sensory and from receptors
motor TOWARDS the CNS
Contains: • Relay neurons • Sensory neurons ➢ Motor (Movement)
(Interneurons) • Motor neurons - Efferent : Motor nerve
findings
Order of neuron • Upper motor • Lower motor neuron/2nd - Conducts impulses
neuron/1st order order neuron AWAY from the CNS
Neuron
and towards the
Cluster of nerve • Nuclei • Ganglia
effector muscles
cell bodies (e.g. Basal ganglia, (e.g. Trigeminal ganglia,
(Skeletal, Smooth,
Thalamus, Brainstem) Dorsal root ganglia)
Cardiac) and glands.
Bundles of axon • Tracts • Nerves
- found in white -surrounded by * Voluntary -(conscious)
matter/spinal cord connective tissue Skeletal
(e.g. Corpus sheaths
* Involuntary (below the level of
callosum, (e.g. Cranial nerves,
consciousness) –
Corticospinal tract, Peripheral nerves –
Pyramidal tract) Ulnar nerve) Visceral/Autonomic : Cardiac,
Myelin production • Oligodendrocytes • Schwann cells Smooth Muscle, glands
e.g. HR, Salivation, Digestion,
 Breathing, Sexual arousal, Tears, etc.
a. THE SPINAL CORD
- Compose of gray matter
(consists of nerve cells); and
white matter (consists of nerve
fibers embedded in neuroglia)

b. THE BRAIN: embryonic

development
- Develops from neural tube
- Brain subdivides into:
FOREBRAIN – Cerebrum,
Diencephalon (Thalamus,
Hypothalamus,
Epithalamus(Pineal gland))
MIDBRAIN – Midbrain
HINDBRAIN – Cerebellum,
Pons, Medulla
- These further divide, each with a
fluid filled region: VENTRICLE,
AQUEDUCT OR CANAL
(Spinal cord also has a canal)
- Two major bends or flexures :
MIDBRAIN and CERVICAL
A. PNS - Consists of two matters:
• SOMATIC : consists of sensory and motor nerves • Gray matter : contains
• AUTONOMIC : regulates the body’s internal functions; innervation of involuntary the soma
structures and is divided into the parasympathetic and sympathetic. • White matter : contains
axons; contains tracts
o Spinothala-
mic tract
o Corticospinal
tract

SULCI – divides the brain into lobes

• Central Sulcus / Central sulcus of Rolando :
divides the brain into frontal and parietal
lobe
• Lateral Sulcus
GYRUS – convolution

5 MAJOR ANATOMICAL
CLASSIFICATION (CNS)

“Rest and digest” “Fight or flight”

B. CNS
- - Brain and spinal cord : Main centers where correlation and integration of nervous
information occurs.
- Covered with meninges and suspended in CSF.
- Protected by skull and vertebral column
- Surrounded by 3 meninges : Dura mater, Arachnoid mater, Pia mater
 1. Cerebral hemisphere NERVOUS SYSTEM
• LOBES:: named under bones of same name
- Most complex system in the
human body
i. Frontal (Front of the brain) – Thinking,
- A network of approximately 100
Cognition, Movement
billion neurons
ii. Parietal (Top of the brain) – Sensation except o Neuron density differs
olfaction in different regions of
the brain. Counting
iii. Temporal (Side of the brain) – Hearing, neurons in a high-
Memory, Language density part of the
brain might might lead
iv. Occipital (Back of the brain) – Visual to a high estimate
perception while counting those in
a lower density region
PLUS : Insula and (Buried deep in lateral sulcus) – not an anatomical lobe; associated with might lead to an
emotions excessively low
and memory estimate.
- Each neuron has thousands of
interconnections
2. Diencephalon
- A very complex form of
a. Thalamus : relay center for pain, smooth movement and memory
communication
b. Epithalamus : pineal gland
- Structural components:
c. Hypothalamus : vegetative functions (feeding, temperature, hormone output)
▪ Nerve cells (Neurons) :
conduct electrical
3. Brain stem
signals thru
- Arousal and wakefulness
membranes
- Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS)
▪ Neuroglial cells (Glial /
a. Mid brain : visual and auditory reflexes
b. Pons : facial sensation and mastication (CN V), facial expression (CN VII) Supporting cells)
c. Medulla oblongata : respiration and BP control
II. THE
4. Cerebellum : coordination of movement NEUROBIOLOGY OF
THE NEURON AND
5. Spinal cord
NEUROGLIA / THE
SYNAPSE

A. NEURONS
- Nerve cells and all its processes
- Excitable cells that are specialized for the
reception of stimuli and conduction of
nerve impulse
- Long lived (>100 yrs)
Development of the brain - Amitotic : irreplaceable
- High metabolic rate
ULTRASTRUCTURE OF NEURON - Major biosynthetic center
- With neuronal processes
a. Nucleus - Well developed Nissl bodies
- Large, spherical to ovoid and centrally located - Microtubules and neurofibrils
- stores the genes (Neurofilaments) for protein
- A single prominent nucleolus : rRNA synthesis and ribosome subunit assembly transport
- finely dispersed chromatin transcriptionally active ** SOMA (body) –CLUSTER of
cell bodies
** Barr body – one of the two X chromosome in female. Composed of sex chromatin and + CNS : Nuclei
situated at the inner surface of the nuclear envelope. + PNS : Ganglia
b. Cytoplasm

- Abundant of RER ? Where to find nerve cell bodies

- Polyribosomes with their dendrites ?
- Basic dyes
✓ Cerebral Cortex
- Lots of SER
✓ Inner grey of spinal cord (ventral
- Golgi bodies (perikaryon) : Protein secreting cell; store protein that comes from Nissl bodies
and dorsal horns)
- Nissl bodies: except for the region close to the axon called axon hillock
✓ Clusters
**Neuronal Cell Membrane o Nuclei : Basal ganglia,
- Electrical signaling Thalamus
- Cell to cell signaling during development o Ganglia : Trigeminal
- Site for initiation and conduction of nerve impulse ganglia, Dorsal root
- semi-permeable : allows diffusion of certain ions (K+) but resists others. ganglia

2. A single AXON (Efferent)

- Typically one per neuron
- Generate nerve impulses
(ACTION POTENTIALS) away
from the soma
- Originate from axon hillock to
distal portion – axon terminal –
end bulbs – synapse with
another neuron
- Devoid of ribosome
- Single process up to 100 cms
- When bundled together
o CNS: Tracts (Corpus
callosum /
Corticospinal tract)
o PNS: Nerves (Ulnar
nerve)
- Lacks Nissl bodies and does not
FUNCTIONS OF NEURONS stain with routine histological
stains
1. RECEPTIVE
: receive stimuli and transduce into nerve impulses for transfer to another neuron
2. INTEGRATIVE
: processing impulse on the higher center NOTE
3. MOTOR
: initiating motor response and transduce the impulse to an effector Axons are either:

3 MAIN PARTS Myelinated – surrounded

by a fatty insulating sheath
1. Cell BODY (Perikaryon / Soma) that speeds conduction of
- The expanded portion of the neuron that contains the nucleus the electrical impulse
- No centrioles : Incapable of cell division (Amitotic) Non-myelinated – Lacking
- Stains basophilically due to the abundance of RER and polyribosomes a myelin sheath and thus
(RER + Polyribosomes = Nissl bodies : the site of protein synthesis) conduct impulses slowly.
** NODES OF RANVIER Additional!!!
++ Mnemonic (12 Cranial Nerves)++
- Myelin sheath gaps between adjacent Schwann cells, occur at regular intervals
- Sites where axon collaterals can emerge
- In unmyelinated axons, Schwann cells enclose axons but no myelin present

3. Multiple DENDRITES (Afferent)

- Short, tapering, diffusely branched processes
- Receptive input region
- Electrical signals are conveyed as GRADED POTENTIAL
- Always unmyelinated
- With cytoplasm devoid of golgi complex
- Contain Nissl bodies in their proximal parts and thus the initial portions of dendrites
stain basophilically
- Often have small protrusions, called dendritic spines that expand the dendritic surface
area and serve as sites of synaptic contact with the axon of another neuron

B. SYNAPSE
- Sites of impulse transmission
- Convert electrical signal into chemical signal
- Permit neurons to communicate

TYPE OF SYNAPSES

1. Axodendritic
2. Axosomatic
3. Axoaxonic
4. Dendrodendritic

Electrical transmission (Ionic)

- One way transmission along the cell membrane
- Flow of ions along the length of a membrane
- Graded potential (along DENDRITES)
- Action potential (along AXONS)

Synaptic transmission (Neurotransmitter)

- More diffuse / diffuse across space
- Chemical transmission (Epi, NE, Ach)
- Cell to cell / signal between cells
- Axon terminals (Axodendritic / Neuromuscular junction