MAJOR FUNCTIONS

1. Receiving sensory input

2. Integrating information

3. Controlling muscles and glands

4. Maintaining homeostasis

5. Establishing and maintaining mental activity

Major divisions:
central nervous system
-consists of the brain and spinal cord
peripheral nervous system
-all the nervous tissue outside the CNS, including nerves and ganglia

Sensory division/afferent
division

-conducts action potentials

from sensory receptors to the
CNS sensory neurons-transmit
action potentials from the
periphery to the CNS

Motor division/efferent division

-conducts action potentials

from the CNS to effector organs
(muscles and glands) motor
neurons-transmit action
potentials from the CNS toward
the periphery

Motor division:

Somatic nervous system

-transmits action potentials from CNS to skeletal muscles

Autonomic nervous system

-transmits action potentials from CNS to cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, and glands.
Neurons/nerve cells

-receive stimuli, conduct action potentials, and transmit signals to other neurons or effector organs

3 parts: cell body, dendrites, axons

Glial cells/neuroglia
-supportive cells of the CNS and PNS
-enhance neuron function and maintain normal conditions within nervous tissue
Myelin sheaths
-specialized layers that wrap around the axons of some neurons
-formed by oligodendrocytes in CNS and Schwann cells in the PNS

Nodes of Ranvier
-gaps in the myelin sheath

Organization of nervous tissue

gray matter
-consists of groups of neuron cell bodied 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.
Synapse
-is a junction where the axon of one neuron interacts with another neuron or with cells of an effector
organ.
3 major components:
presynaptic terminal
-end of the axon
postsynaptic membrane
-membrane of the dendrite or effector cell
synaptic cleft
-space separating the presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes
Spinal cord
-extends from the foramen magnum at the base of the skull to the 2 nd lumbar vertebra
Neural pathways - 2 simplest

1. converging pathway
-2 or more neurons synapse with the same postsynaptic neuron

2. diverging pathway
-axon from 1 neuron divides and synapses with more than 1 other postsynaptic neuron
Spinal cord reflexes

stretch reflex
-simplest reflex
knee-jerk reflex
-stimulus is stretching of the quadriceps femoris muscle.
Spinal nerves
-arise along the spinal cord from the union of the dorsal roots and ventral roots.
-31 pairs of spinal nerves
3 major plexuses
1. cervical plexus (C1-C4)
2. brachial plexus (C5-T1)
3. lumbosacral plexus (L1-S4)
BRAIN

Major regions:

Brainstem, cerebellum, diencephalon, cerebrum

Brainstem

-connects the spinal cord to the remainder of the brain

Cerebellum

-attached by cerebellar peduncles to the brainstem

-major function: comparator

- It helps with the coordination and movement related to motor skills, especially involving the hands and
feet. It also helps maintain posture, balance, and equilibrium.

Diencephalon

-part of the brain between the brainstem and the cerebrum

Cerebrum

-largest part of the brain

-initiates and coordinates movement and regulates temperature. Other areas of the cerebrum enable
speech, judgment, thinking and reasoning, problem-solving, emotions and learning. Other functions
relate to vision, hearing, touch and other senses.
Sensory and motor functions

Ascending tracts
-carry sensory information from the body, like pain, for example, up the spinal cord to the brain.
Descending tracts
-carry motor information, like instructions to move the arm, from the brain down the spinal cord to the
body.
Other Brain functions:

communication between the right and left hemisphere

-right cerebral hemisphere receives sensory input from and controls muscular activity in the left half of
the body.
-left cerebral hemisphere receives input from and controls muscles in the right half of the body.

Speech
-left cerebral cortex

2 major cortical areas

sensory speech area (Wernicke area)

-understanding and formulating coherent speech
motor speech area
-controls movement necessary for speech

Brain waves and consciousness

-electrical activity of the brain
-Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Memory
-divided into 3 stages
-working, short-term, long-term

1. working memory
-task-associated
-lasts only a few seconds to minutes and occurs mostly in the frontal cortex
2. short-term memory
-lasts longer that working memory
-retained for a few minutes to a few days

3. long-term memory
-the storage of information over an extended period. This type of memory tends to be stable and can
last a long time—often for years.

Limbic system and emotions

-influences long-term declarative memory, emotions, visceral responses to emotions, motivation, and
mood.

Other Brain functions:

Limbic system and emotions

-influences long-term declarative memory, emotions, visceral responses to emotions, motivation, and
mood.

MENINGES, VENTRICLES, CEREBROSPINAL FLUID

MENINGES

-surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.

-most superficial and thickest (dura mater)

-arachnoid mater (2nd meningeal membrane)

-pia mater (third meningeal membrane)

VENTRICLES

-Fluid-filled cavities in the CNS

Cerebrospinal Fluid

-bathes the brain and spinal cord, providing a protective cushion around the CNS.

-choroid plexuses produce CSF.

-blockage of the openings in the 4 th ventricle or cerebral aqueduct can cause CSF to accumulate in the
ventricles (hydrocephalus)

CRANIAL NERVES
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

-Comprises motor neurons that carry action potentials from CNS to the periphery.

-innervate smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands.