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Nervoussystem (Author T.globa)
Nervoussystem (Author T.globa)
“NICOLAE TESTEMITANU”
fish
Nervous System
human
mammal
In the PNS
Groups of nerve cell bodies are called ganglia.
Bundles of nerve fibers form nerves.
Spinal Cord
• Is a cylindrical structure that is directly continuous with the
brain & is situated in the vertebral canal but not reaching up
to its end.
• In cross section, it exhibits a butterfly-shaped grayish-tan
inner substance, the gray matter & a whitish peripheral
substance, the white matter.
• The white matter is composed of myelinated and
unmyelinated nerve fibers that represent ascending,
descending and transverse pathways
• The gray matter consists of mirror-image lateral gray
masses connected by a cross-bar of gray matter called the
gray commissure that encloses the central canal.
Posterior medial sulcus
The central
canal is the
small channel
in the gray
matter which
connects the
gray matter of
left and right
sides. It is
lined by
ependymal
cells
The spinal cord has two grooves that mark its surface
Anterior median fissure / Posterior medial sulcus Anterior median fissure
Central canal
Spinal Cord
• Gray matter is divided
into the:
Dorsal (posterior)
horns – are fine-
bored & long
Ventral (anterior)
horns – are wide &
short
Lateral horns
According of the topography of neurons axons the
neurons of spinal cord are divided into
gray matter
posterior horn
lateral
central canal
funiculus
commissures
Ventral (anterior) horns
• Contain multipolar motor neurons.
• Spinal motor neurons have the largest nerve cell bodies in the
ventral horn. These cells are also called "lower motor neurons",
or just "motor neurons“. Axons of these cells extend through
ventral (anterior) roots into peripheral nerves, and hence to motor
end plates on muscle fibers.
• The anterior horns are the largest in the areas where the
innervation for limbs is present
– Cervical enlargement (arms)
– Lumbar enlargement (legs)
• Most evident are:
Medial group of motor neurons that innervate muscles of
the trunk (body)
Lateral group of motor neurons that innervate muscle of
upper & lower extremities
lateral
funiculus
gray matter
anterior horn
white columns of
anterior funiculus
Lateral horns
• Are well developed in thoracic & sacral
regions.
• The lateral horn neurons are autonomic
(sympathetic) motor neurons that serve the
visceral organs.
• Their axons also leave the cord via the ventral
root.
White Matter
• The white matter of the spinal cord is composed of myelinated
and unmyelinated nerve fibers that allow communication
between different parts of the spinal cord and between the cord
and the brain.
• Nerve fibers run in three directions:
– Ascending / up to higher centers (sensory inputs)
– Descending / down to the cord from the brain or from within
the cord to lower levels (motor outputs)
– Transversely / across from one side of the cord to the other
(commissural fibers).
• The white matter on each side of the column is divided into three
white columns or funiculi and labeled according to their position
(posterior, lateral, anterior).
• Each funiculi contains several fiber tracts, and each tract is made
up of axons with similar destinations and functions.
White Matter
Cerebellum
• There are three portions - 2 lateral hemispheres and the middle
portion (vermis)
• Functions: - coordination of voluntary muscles, maintenance of
balance, maintenance of muscle tone.
• Consists of gray (cortex) & white matter (medulla)
Gray matter – cerebellar cortex
The cortex of the cerebellum consists of three well-defined layers:
I. Molecular layer is relatively acellular and contains:
Stellate neurons
Basket neurons
Dendrites of Purkinje neurons
Parallel fibers (axons of granule cells)
Neuroglia
II. Purkinje cell layer contains:
Cell bodies of Purkinje neurons that are surrounded by the
basket (axons of basket & stellate neurons)
III. Granule cell layer is rich in cells and contains:
Granule neurons (cells)
Golgi cells
cerebellar Glomeruli
Neuroglia
Neurons of Cerebellar Cortex
I. Purkinje cells (neurons)
• are the largest neurons in the
brain.
• have extensive dendritic trees that
are broad perpendicular and
compressed parallel to the length
of the folium.
• the dendrites fill the molecular
layer.
• the axons run through the white
matter and synapse in cerebellar
nuclei (or in vestibular nuclei).
• Purkinje axons engage in
inhibitory synapses; they release
GABA as a neurotransmitter.
Purkinje Cell (cerebellum) 100X
Purkinje cells
Purkinje Cells