Chapter 8 - Nervous System part 1

Figure 8.1 General look of the nervous system

Nervous system functions:

1. Receiving sensory input

2. Integrating information

3. Controlling muscles and glands

4. Maintaining homeostasis (to make sure everything is working properly)

5. Establishing and maintaining mental activity

Brain and spinal cord receive sensory input -> then they integrate received information > then they
receive information from sensory structures throughout the body whether they’re in the skin or organs
so that they can change or respond to any problem or imbalance in homeostasis
2 ANATOMICAL DIVISION of the nervous system:

1. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

- Includes all of the nerves the come off of the brain and spinal cord which also consist of nerves to
the lower and upper limb, ganglia, cranial nerves, and nerves to the face

Ganglia
- Refers to clusters of nerve cell bodies

2. Central Nervous System (CNS)

- Consist of brain and spinal cord that travels down the length of your vertebra through vertebral
foramen
- All the nervous tissue outside CNS

2 SIMPLE DIVISION IN TERMS OF THE FUNCTION of the nervous system:

1. SENSORY Division
- Conducts action potentials from sensory receptors that are receiving stimuli from the external or
internal environment to the brain and spinal cord (CNS)

2. MOTOR Division
- Conducts action potentials to effector organs, such as muscles and glands

The sensory division takes in all the stimuli > then the brain processes it > then the motor division
sends out response

(Main Divisions) DETAILED FUNCTIONAL DIVISIONS of the nervous system:

1. SOMATIC nervous system (Voluntary division)

- Transmit action potentials, or a signal, from the brain and spinal cord (CNS) to SKELETAL
MUSCLES

Action potential
- means a nerve is fired because it is carrying a signal

2. AUTONOMIC nervous system (Involuntary division)

- Transmit action potentials from the brain and spinal cord (CNS) to CARDIAC MUSCLE (HEART),
SMOOTH MUSCLE, AND GLANDS
- Happens and controls automatically without you even knowing it

3. ENTERIC nervous system

- A special nervous system found only in the DIGESTIVE TRACT
 Figure 8.2 Breakdown of the Organization of the nervous system

Sensory inputs
- Everything that your nervous system takes in (5 senses)

Sensory input > gets picked up by Sensory receptors > travels through Sensory division > and into
the Central nervous system (which are your brain and spinal cord) > the Brain and Spinal cord will
then process/integrate what the body has received > then figure out how to Respond to those stimuli

2 Cells of the nervous system:

1. Neurons (Nerve cell)

- Receive stimuli, conduct action potential down their axon, and transmit signals to other neurons or
effector organs

2. Glial cells
- Supportive cells of the CNS and PNS
- These cells do not conduct action potentials
- Carry out different functions that enhance neuron function and maintain normal conditions within
nervous tissue
Neurons:

A Neuron (Nerve cell) has a:

1. Cell Body
- Contains a single nucleus

2. Dendrite
- Usually contains several dendrites
- A cytoplasmic extension from the cell body, the usually receives information from other neurons and
transmits the information to the cell body

3. Axon
- A single long cell process that leaves the cell body at the axon hillock and conducts sensory signals
to the CNS and motor signals away from the CNS

Axon hillock
- A place where the axon connects to the cell body

Note: Can be compared to your hand and arm

Dendrites
- (think of your fingers) shown as extensions coming off of the cell body
- The one that receives information/signal

Neuron cell body

- (think of your palm) the nucleus can be found in the middle which is the main integrating center
- The one that integrates the information/signal

Axon
- (think of it as a long arm) is the long extension leaving the cell body
 Figure 8.3 Typical neuron system (refer to the ppt for clearer pic)

3 Structural types of neurons:

1. Multipolar
- Neurons have many dendrites and a single axon
- Most common type of neuron within your CNS
- Most of the neurons within the CNS and nearly all motor neurons are multipolar

2. Bipolar
- Neurons have two processes: One dendrite, and One axon
- Are located in some sensory organs, such as the RETINA OF THE EYE and in the NASAL CAVITY

3. Pseudo-unipolar
- A rare and less common type of neuron
- Neurons have a single process extending from the cell body, which divides into two processes as
short distance from the cell body
- One process extends to the periphery, and the other extends to the CNS
- The two extensions function as a single axon with small, dendrite-like sensory receptors at the
periphery.

Figure 8.4 Types of Neurons

Glial Cells
- Are the supportive cells of the CNS and PNS

Astrocytes
- Serve as the major supporting cells in the Brain and Spinal Cord (CNS)
- Can stimulate or inhibit the signaling activity of nearby neurons and form the blood-brain barrier
- Has PERIVASCULAR FOOT PROCESSES that are able to wrap around blood capillaries in the
brain, when doing so, they form a blood barrier between the blood and capillaries and the surrounding
tissue in the brain barrier
- Helps protect certain things in the blood from leaking out of the capillaries from the brain tissue
- Two things that CAN get through this blood barrier: ALCOHOL and NICOTINE

Ependymal cells
- Line the cavities in the brain that contains CEREBROSPINAL FLUID
- They have CELIA and line the cavities of the brain that contain cerebral spinal fluid
- They help to move or circulate around the cerebral spinal fluid

Microglial cells
- Are large immune cells that helps to engulf, destroy, or get rid of cell debris
- Act in an immune function in the CNS by removing bacteria and cell debris

Oligodendrocytes
- Can be found in the brain and spinal cord (CNS)
- Create or provide myelin that forms this white electrical tape kind of structure around the axons of
your neurons to help speed up the process of action potentials traveling down the neurons

Schwann cells
- Layers of myelin can be seen
- Provide myelin to axons of neurons in the PNS.
Figure 8.5 Types of Glial cells
Myelin Sheath
- Are specialized layers that wrap around the axons of some neurons, those neurons are termed,
Myelinated
- The sheaths are formed by oligodendrocytes in the CNS and Schwann cells in the PNS
- Myelination of an axon increases the speed and efficiency of action potential generation along the
axon

Schwann cell
- A part of glial supporting cell
- Create Myelin Sheaths

Note: Action potentials travels down when ions move in, but if prevented, it can go straight through

Myelin
- Is an excellent insulator that prevents almost all ion movement across the cell membrane

Nodes of Ranvier
- It is a gap that that occur every millimeter
- Ion movement can occur at the nodes of Ranvier, meaning that the ions will rush into the axon at the
nodes of Ranvier. Resulting to a jumping of action potential between at the nodes of Ranvier to
help speed up the action potential

Multiple sclerosis (MS)

- MS starts affecting women in their 30’s which has no cure, but there is maintenance prognosis or
just taking care of it
- Is a disease of the myelin sheath that causes loss of muscle function
- It destroys your myelin sheath in your axons so that the axons cannot conduct their action potentials
as quickly you start to lose muscle function

Unmyelinated Neurons
- Lack the myelin sheaths
- These axons rest in indentations of the oligodendrocytes in the CNS and the Schwann cells in
the PNS
- A typical small nerve, which consists of axons of multiple neurons, usually contains more
unmyelinated axons than myelinated axons

Note: In your forearm you have an Ulnar nerve and a Radial nerve
 Figure 8.6 Myelinated and Unmyelinated Axons

Organization of Nervous Tissue

Nervous tissue
- Varies in color due to the abundance or absence of myelinated axons
- Exists as gray matter and white matter

Gray matter
- Consists of groups of neuron cell bodies and their dendrites, where there is very little myelin

White matter
- Consists of bundles of parallel axons with their myelin sheaths, which are whitish in color.

Membrane Potentials
- Potentials that are mainly due to differences in concentrations of ions across the membrane,
membrane channels, and the sodium potassium pump
- Resting Membrane Potential and action potentials occur in neurons

There are two types of ion channels:

Leak Channels
- Are always open so ions can diffuse across the membrane, down their concentration gradient
- There are 50 to 100 times more K+ (Potassium) leak channels than the Na+ leak channels
- The resting membrane has much greater permeability to K+ than to Na+; Therefore, the K+ leak
channels have the greatest contribution to the resting membrane potential

Gated Channels
- Are generally closed until opened by specific signals but can be opened due to voltage or chemicals
such as NEUROTRANSMITTERS

Voltage-gated channels
- Are opened by a change in the electrical property of the cell membrane
Sodium-Potassium Pump
- Compensates for the constant leakage of ions through leak channels
- Is also required to maintain resting membrane potential
- Is required to maintain the greater concentration of Na+ OUTSIDE the cell membrane and K+
INSIDE
- The pump actively transport the K+ into the cell and Na+ outside the cell
- Always transport 2 Potassium in and 3 sodium out ( 2 K+ in / 3 Na+ out)
- It is estimated that the sodium-potassium pump consumes 25% of all the ATP in a typical cell and
70% of the ATP in a neuron

NOTE: Our body needs to constantly be creating ATP

Resting Membrane Potential

- NA+ tends to diffuse into the cell, because it’s traveling down its concentration gradient, and K+
tends to diffuse out following its concentration gradient
- In order to maintain the resting membrane potential, the sodium-potassium pump recreates the NA+
and K+ ion gradient by pumping Na+ out of the cell and K+ into the cell
The resting membrane potential exists because of:

 The concentration of K+ being higher on the inside of the cell membrane and the concentration
of Na+ being higher on the outside
 The presence of many negatively charged molecules, such as proteins, inside the cell that are
too large to exit the cell
 The presence of leak protein channels in the membrane that are more permeable to K+ than it
is to Na+, meaning that potassium is constantly leaking out

Diffusion
- Sodium will travel down its concentration gradient, meaning it will always go from an area where
there is higher sodium, into the cell where there is less

NOTE: The resting cell potential is about -70 mV/millivolts, mainly due to negatively charged proteins
 Figure 8.7 (1), (2), & (3) Resting Membrane Potential

Action Potential
- Allow conductivity along nerve or muscle membrane, similar to electricity going along an electric
wire
- The opening of this channel causes a massive 600-fold increase in membrane permeability to Na+
- Voltage-gated K+ channels also begin to open
- Occurs in all-or-none fashion, action potential or firing of a neuron getting a signal to pass through

All-or-none
- refers to the fact that threshold is reached, an action potential occurs; if threshold is not reached, no
action potential occurs

NOTE: The threshold value for the inside of the cell needs to get to about -50 mV for this threshold to
reach for an action potential to occur

Voltage-gated Channels (Na+ and K+ Channels)

- The channels responsible for the action potential
- Closed during rest (Resting membrane potential)

When a stimulus is applied in a nerve cell, following neurotransmitter activation:

Na+ channels open first and briefly > moves down its concentration gradient > diffuses rapidly into
the cell

NOTE: There is more sodium outside the cell so as soon as these sodium channels open, sodium
rushes into the cell, and it brings with it a positively charge. Because each sodium ion has a positive
charge to it. This movement of sodium with its positive charge is called Local Current.
Local current
- Movement of Na+
- Causes inside of cell membrane to become positive, a change called DEPOLARIZATION which is
the first step of action potential

Depolarization
- If it is not strong enough, the Na+ channels close and the local potential disappears without being
conducted along the nerve cell membrane
- If it is large enough, Na+ enters the cell so that the local potential reaches a threshold value
- This threshold depolarization causes voltage gated Na+ channels to open, generally at the axon
hillock
- As more Na+ enters the cell, depolarization continues at a much faster pace, causing brief reversal
of charge – the inside of the cell membrane becomes positive relative to the outside of the cell
membrane
- The charge reversal causes Na+ channels to close and Na+ then stops entering the cell (peak of
action potential)
- During this time, more K+ channels are opening and K+ leaves the cell, resulting in
REPOLARIZATION

Hyperpolarization
- Roughly around -90 mV or -100 mV
- At the end of repolarization, charge on the cell membrane briefly becomes more negative than the
resting membrane potential
- The sodium-potassium pump assists in restoring the resting membrane potential back to – 70 mV
(nerves are at rest and not moving at all)

NOTE: within firing, there will always be resting period, when at rest, they are not actively receiving
stimuli

Photoreceptors
- Neurons in the retina when you close your eyes
Action
potential
peak
Figure 8.8 (1), (2), and (3) Action Potential

Figure 8.9 Action Potential

Unmyelinated and Myelinated Axon Action Potentials

- Action potentials are conducted SLOWLY in unmyelinated axons and more RAPIDLY in
myelinated axons
- Action potentials along unmyelinated axons occur along the entire membrane

Saltatory conduction
- A type of action potential conduction on myelinated axons occurs in a jumping pattern at the nodes
of Ranvier

Figure 8.10 Unmyelinated Axon Conduction (Normal decolorization route)

 Figure 8.11 Myelinated Axon Conduction

Axon conduction speed

- The speed of action potential conduction varies widely, even among myelinated axons based on
the diameter of axon fibers

Medium – diameter
- Lightly myelinated axons
- Characteristics of autonomic neurons, conduct action potentials at the rate of about 3 to 15 meters
per second (m/s)

Large – diameter
- Heavily myelinated axons
- Conduct action potentials at the rate of 15 to 120 m/s

Synapse

Neuro neuronal synapse

- A synapse between two neurons
- A junction where the axon of one neuron interacts with another neuron

Neurotransmitters
- Chemical substances that are stored in synaptic vesicles in the presynaptic terminal
- Do not normally remain in the synaptic cleft indefinitely, thus their effects are short duration
- These substances become reduced in concentration when they are either rapidly broken down by
enzymes within the synaptic cleft or are transported back into the presynaptic terminal

There are many neurotransmitters, with the Best-known being: ACETYLCHOLINE and
NOREPINEPHRINE

Acetylcholine
- An enzyme that breaks down the ACETYLCHOLINE

Norepinephrine
- Is either transported back into the presynaptic terminal or broken down by enzymes

The end of the axon forms a PRESYNAPTIC terminal, and the membrane of the next neuron forms
the POSTSYNAPTIC membrane, with a synaptic cleft between the two membranes

 An action potential causes voltage-gate Ca 2+ channels to open, and Ca2+ moves into cell
 Ca2+ is the special ion needed when influx causes the release of neurotransmitters by
exocytosis from the presynaptic terminal
 The neurotransmitters diffuse across the synaptic cleft and bind to specific receptor molecules
on the postsynaptic membrane
 The binding of neurotransmitters to these membrane receptors causes chemically gated
channels for Na+, K+, or CI- to open or close in the postsynaptic membrane
 The specific channel type and whether or not the channel opens or closes depend on the type
of neurotransmitter in the presynaptic terminal and the type of receptors on the postsynaptic
membrane
 The response may be either stimulation or inhibition of an action potential in the postsynaptic
cell

If Na+ channels open

- The postsynaptic cell becomes depolarized, and an action potential will result if threshold is reached

If K+ or CI- channels open

- The inside of the postsynaptic cell tends to become more negative, or hyperpolarized, and an action
potential is inhibited from occurring
Figure 8.12 The Synapse
Reflex
- Is an involuntary reaction in response to a stimulus applied to the periphery and transmitted to the
CNS
- Allow a person to react to stimuli, usually pain, more quickly than is possible if conscious thought is
involved
- Most reflexes occur in the spinal cord or brainstem rather than in the higher brain centers

Reflex arc
- Is the neuronal pathway by which a reflex occurs and has five basic components

5 basic reflex arc components:

1. A sensory receptor, which receives the stimuli that could be pain

2. A sensory neuron, a pathway that takes the sensory information to an interneuron

3. Interneurons, which are neurons located between and communicating with two other neurons

4. A motor neuron, where the interneuron is connected which takes out a motor response to and
effector organ

5. An effector organ (muscles or glands)

NOTE: The simplest reflex arcs do not involve interneurons

Figure 8.13 Reflex Arc

Neuronal Pathway (Converging)

• The CNS has simple to complex neuronal pathways

Converging pathway
- Is a simple pathway in which two or more neurons synapse with the same postsynaptic neuron
- This allows information transmitted in more than one neuronal pathway to converge into a single
pathway

Neuronal Pathway (Diverging)

Diverging pathway
- Is a simple pathway in which an axon from one neuron divides and synapses with more than one
another postsynaptic neuron
- This allows information transmitted in one neuronal pathway to diverge into two or more pathways

Figure 8.14 Neuronal Pathways

Summation
- A process that needs many presynaptic action potentials

• A single presynaptic action potential usually does not cause a sufficiently large postsynaptic local
potential to reach threshold and produce an action potential in the target cell

Summation of signals in neuronal pathways

- Allows integration of multiple subthreshold local potentials

Summation of the local potentials

- Can bring the membrane potential to threshold and trigger an action potential

Spatial summation
- Occurs when the local potentials originate from different locations on the postsynaptic neuron
Example: from converging pathways

Temporal summation
- Occurs when local potentials overlap in time
- This can occur from a single input that fires rapidly, which allows the resulting local potentials to
overlap briefly

NOTE: Spatial and temporal summation can lead to stimulation or inhibition, depending on the type of
signal.