Types of Muscle and Function

Skeletal - 40–50% of total body weight- voluntary

▪ v Skeletal - 40–50% of total body weight- voluntary
▪ Mostly movement of bone & body parts
▪ Stabilizing body positions

Cardiac - only in heart - involuntary

▪ Heart only
▪ Develops pressure for arterial blood flow
Smooth- grouped in walls of hollow organs
▪ Smooth- grouped in walls of hollow organs
▪ Sphincters regulate flow in tubes
▪ Maintain diameter of tubes

Muscle Functions
▪ Produce body movements
▪ Stabilize body positions
▪ Produce body
▪ heat
▪ Respiration
▪ Communication
▪ Constriction of organs and vessels
▪ Contraction of the heart
Skeletal Muscle Tissue
▪ Muscle includes: muscle fibers, connective tissue, nerves & blood vessels
▪ Wrapped in epimysium
▪ Perimysium surrounds fiber bundles called fascicles
▪ Endomysium surrounds each individual fiber
▪ Well-supplied with blood vessels and nerves
▪ Terminal of a neuron on each muscle fiber
Functional Properties of Skeletal Muscle Tissue
▪ Contractility
▪ Excitability
▪ Extensibility
▪ Elasticity
Muscle Fiber Types
▪ Slow-Twitch Muscle Fibers
▪ Fast -Twitch Muscle Fiber
 Skeletal Muscle Tissue

Muscle Histology
▪ Elongated cylindrical cells = muscle fibers
▪ Plasma membrane = sarcolemma
▪ Transverse (T) tubules tunnel from surface to center of each fiber
▪ Multiple nuclei lie near surface of cell
▪ Cytoplasm = sarcoplasm

Muscle Histology
▪ Throughout sarcoplasm is sarcoplasmic reticulum
• Stores calcium ions
▪ Sarcoplasm contains myoglobin
• Red pigmented protein related to Hemoglobin that carries oxygen
▪ Along entire length are myofibrils
▪ Myofibrils made of protein filaments
• Come in thick and thin filaments
Sarcomere
▪ Filaments overlap in repeating patterns
▪ Unit structure is called sarcomere
▪ Separated by Z discs
▪ Darker area = A band associated with thick filaments
▪ H zone has no thin filaments
▪ I band has thin filaments no thick filaments
 Functional Structure
▪ Thick filament (myosin) has moveable heads (like “heads” of golf clubs)
▪ Thin filaments (actin) are anchored to Z discs
• Contain myosin binding sites for myosin head
• Also contain tropomyosin & troponin
▪ Tropomyosin blocks myosin binding site when muscle is at rest
Sliding Filament Mechanism
▪ During contraction myosin heads bind actin sites
▪ Myosins pull and slide actin molecules (and Z discs) toward H zone
▪ I bands and H zones become more narrow
▪ Sliding generates force and shortens sarcomeres and thus fibers.
Neuromuscular Interaction
▪ Nerve signal triggers muscle action potential
▪ Delivered by motor neuron
▪ One neuron can trigger 1 or more fibers at the same time
▪ Neuron plus triggered fibers = motor unit
Neuromuscular Junction
▪ Neuronal ending to muscle fiber = neuromuscular junction (NMJ)
▪ Synaptic end bulbs (at neuron terminal)
• Release neurotransmitter
▪ Muscular area = Motor end plate
▪ Between is synaptic cleft
Neuromuscular Junction
 Action at NMJ
❖ Release of acetylcholine (ACh)
Diffuses across cleft
2. Activation of ACh receptors
3. Generation of Muscle Action Potential
• Repeats with each neuronal action potential
4. Breakdown of ACh
Contraction Trigger
▪ Muscle action potential → Ca2+ release from Sacroplasmic Reticulum (SR)
▪ Ca2+ binds to troponin →
▪ Moves tropomyosin off actin sites →
▪ Myosin binds & starts cycle
Neuromuscular Junctions
(UNNECESARRY TOPIC SHI-. EXP RELAXATION- META)
Interactions Animations
Contraction Cycle
▪ Myosin binds to actin & releases phosphate group (forming crossbridges)
▪ Crossbridge swivels releasing ADP and shortening sarcomere (power stroke)
▪ ATP binds to Myosin → release of myosin from actin
▪ ATP broken down to ADP & Pi → activates myosin head to bind and start again
▪ Repeats as long as Ca2+ concentration is high

Relaxation
▪ Breakdown of ACh to stop muscle action potentials
▪ Ca2+ ions transported back into SR lowering concentration →
• This takes ATP
▪ Tropomyosin covers actin binding sites
Muscle Tone
▪ Even at rest some motor neuron activity occurs = Muscle Tone
▪ If nerves are cut fiber becomes flaccid (very limp)
Metabolism
▪ Rapid changes from very low ATP consumption to high levels of consumption
▪ Creatine phosphate (high energy store)
▪ Fast and good for ~ 15 sec
(NOT LITERALLY NECESARRY PERO IF DAGHAN PAG GB IMONG UTOK, G)
Production of ATP for Muscle Contraction

Glycolysis
▪ Break down glucose to 2 pyruvates getting 2 ATPs
▪ If insufficient mitochondria or oxygen, pyruvate → lactic acid
Aerobic Cellular Respiration
▪ Production of ATP in mitochondria
▪ Requires oxygen and carbon substrate
▪ Produces CO2 and H2O and heat.
Fatigue
▪ Inability to contract forcefully after prolonged activity
▪ Limiting factors can include:
• Ca2+
• Creatine Phosphate
• Oxygen
• Build up of acid
• Neuronal failure
Oxygen Use After Exercise
▪ Convert lactic acid back to glucose in liver
▪ Resynthesize creatine phosphate and ATP
▪ Replace oxygen removed from myoglobin
Control of Muscle Contraction
▪ Single action potential(AP) → twitch
• Smaller than maximum muscle force
▪ Total tension of fiber depends on frequency of APs (number/second)
• Require wave summation
• Maximum = tetanus
▪ Total tension of muscle depends on number of fibers contracting in unison
• Increasing numbers = Motor unit recruitment
 Myogram

Fiber Types
▪ Slow oxidative (SO)- small diameter and red
▪ Large amounts of myoglobin and mitochondria
▪ ATP production primarily oxidative
▪ Fatigue resistant
▪ Fast oxidative- glycolytic (FOG)
▪ Large diameter = many myofibrils
▪ Many mitochondria and high glycolytic capacity
▪ Fast glycolytic fibers (FG)
▪ White, fast & powerful and fast fatiguing
▪ For strong, short term use

Recruitment
▪ Muscle contractions only use the fibers required for the work
▪ Recruited in order: SO → FOG → FG
Effects of Exercise
▪ SO/FG fiber ratio genetically determined
• High FG → sprinters
• High SO → marathoners
▪ Endurance exercise gives FG → FOG
• Increased diameter and numbers of mitochondria
▪ Strength exercise increases size and strength of FG fibers
(NECESSARY)
Cardiac Muscle
▪ Involuntary muscle found only in heart wall
▪ Striated, branched short fibers with single, central nucleus in each fiber
▪ Fibers connected by:
• Intercalated discs (thickened cell membranes)
• Gap junctions that allow spread of action potentials
▪ ATP generated by abundant mitochondria and by lactic acid when cells lack oxygen
▪ Does not require nerve stimulation nerve
 • Has its own intrinsic pacemaker (and conduction system within cardiac muscle) that initiates
cardiac contraction
• Known as autorhythmicity
2+
▪ Ca released from S.R. and extracellular spaces
▪ Intercalated discs with gap junctions transmit action potentials from ne muscle cell to the next
Cardiac Muscle

Smooth Muscle
▪ Involuntary
▪ Found in internal organs such as stomach, bladder, walls of arteries
▪ Structure
• Tapered cells each with single nucleus
• Filaments not regular so tissue does not appear striated
Smooth Muscle
▪ Types
• Visceral (single unit) type or
▪ Form sheets and are autorhythmic
▪ Contract as a unit
• Multi-unit type
▪ Each has own nerve and can contract independently
▪ Graded contractions and slow responses
• Often sustain long term tone
• Often triggered by autonomic nerves
• Modulated chemically, by nerves, by mechanical events (stretching)
Smooth Muscle

Aging
▪ As with bone there is a slow progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass
 ▪ Relative number of SO fibers tends to increase
Movement
▪ Muscles move one bone relative to another around one or more joint(s)
▪ Origin → most stationary end
• Location where the tendon attaches
▪ Insertion → most mobile end
• Location where tendon inserts
▪ Action → the motion or function of the muscle
Skeletal Muscle and Bones

Movement
▪ Generally arranged in opposing pairs
• Flexors - extensors; abductors - adductors
▪ The major actor: prime mover or agonist
▪ Muscle with opposite effect: antagonist
▪ Synergists - help prime mover
▪ Fixators - stabilize origin of prime mover
▪ Role of muscle varies with motion
Basis of Muscle Names
▪ Direction of fibers relative to body axes
• Examples: lateralis, medialis (medius), intermedius, rectus
▪ Size of muscle
• Examples: alba, brevis, longus, magnus, vastus
▪ Shape of muscle
• Examples: deltoid, orbicularis, serratus, trapezius
Basis of Muscle Names
Examples: abductor, adductor, flexor, extensor
▪ Number of tendons (heads) of origin
• Examples: biceps, triceps, quadriceps
▪ Location of muscle
Examples: abdominus, brachialis, cleido,
oculo-, uro-,
UNNECESSARY PICS EW. CHZ
Superficial Skeletal Muscles

Muscles of the Head Muscles of the Eyeball

Muscles of the Abdomen

Muscles of the Thorax

Muscles of the Thorax Muscles of the Arm

Muscles of the Arm Muscles of the Forearm

Muscles of the Forearm Muscles of the Neck and Back

Muscles of the Gluteal Region Muscles of the Gluteal Region

Muscles of the Leg: Foot and Toes

Structures of the Nervous System
▪ Brain: neurons enclosed within skull
▪ Spinal cord: connects to brain and enclosed within spinal cavity
▪ Nerves: bundles of many axons of neurons
• Cranial nerves (12 pairs) emerge from brain
• Spinal nerves (31 pairs) emerge from spinal cord
▪ Ganglia: groups of neuron cell bodies located outside of brain and spinal cord
▪ Enteric plexuses: networks in digestive tract
▪ Sensory receptors: monitor changes in internal or external environments
Functions of the Nervous System
▪ Sensory receptors and sensory nerves
• Carry information into brain and spinal cord
▪ Integration: information processing
• Perception = awareness of sensory input
• Analyzing and storing information to help lead to appropriate responses
▪ Motor activity: efferent nerves
• Signals to muscles and glands (effectors)
Organization of the Nervous System
▪ Central Nervous System (CNS)
• Brain and spinal cord
▪ Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
• All nervous system structures outside of the CNS
Histology of the Nervous System
▪ Neurons
• Can respond to stimuli and convert stimuli to electrical signals (nerve impulses) that travel along
neurons
▪ Neuroglia cells: support, nourish and protect neurons
• Neuroglia critical for homeostasis of interstitial fluid around neurons
Neuronal Structure
▪ Cell body: nucleus, cytoplasm with typical organelles
▪ Dendrites: highly branched structures that carry impulses to the cell body
▪ Axon: conducts away from cell body toward another neuron, muscle or gland
• Emerges at cone-shaped axon hillock
▪ Axon terminals: contain synaptic vesicles that can release neurotransmitters
Structural Classes of Neurons
▪ Multipolar
• Have several or many dendrites and one axon
• Most common type in brain and spinal cord
▪ Bipolar
• Have one dendrite and one axon
• Example: in retina of eye and inner ear
o Pseudo- Unipolar Have fused dendrite and axon Sensory neurons of spinal nerves
Functional Classes of Neurons
▪ Sensory (afferent)
• Convey impulses into CAN (brain or spinal cord)
▪ Motor (efferent)
• Convey impulses from brain or spinal cord out through the PNS to effectors (muscles or glands)
▪ Interneurons (association neurons)
• Most are within the CNS
• Transmit impulses between neurons, such as between sensory and motor neuron
Neuroglia / Glial
▪ Cells smaller but much more numerous than neurons
▪ Can multiply and divide and fill in brain areas
▪ Gliomas: brain tumors derived from neuroglia
▪ Functions
• Do not conduct nerve impulses
• Do support, nourish and protect neurons
Neuroglia/ Glial
▪ Astrocytes: help form blood brain barrier
▪ Oligodendrocytes: produce myelin in CNS
▪ Microglia: protect CNS cells from disease
▪ Ependymal cells: form CSF in ventricles
▪ Schwann: produce myelin around PNS neurons; help to regenerate PNS axons
▪ Satellite cells: support neurons in PNS ganglia
Myelination
▪ Axons covered with a myelin sheath
• Many layers of lipid and protein: insulates neurons
• Increases speed of nerve conduction
• Appears white (in white matter)
Some diseases destroy myelin:
• Multiple sclerosis
• Tay-Sachs
Collections of Nervous Tissue
▪ Clusters of neuron cell bodies
• Ganglion: cluster of cell bodies in PNS
• Nucleus: cluster of cell bodies in CNS
▪ Bundles of axons
• Nerve: bundle of axons in PNS
• Tract: bundle to axons in CNS
Gray and White Matter
▪ White matter: primarily myelinated axons
▪ Gray matter: cell bodies, dendrites, unmyelinated axons, axon terminals, neuroglia
 ▪ Locations of gray and white matter
• Spinal cord: white matter (tracts) surround centrally located gray matter “H” of “butterfly”
• Brain: gray matter in thin cortex surrounds white matter (tracts)
Neuron Regeneration
▪ Regeneration of PNS neurons
• Axons and dendrite in the PNS can be repaired if cell body is intact and Schwann cells functional.
These form a regeneration tube and grow axons or dendrites if scar tissue does not fill the tube
▪ Regeneration of CNS neurons
• Very limited even if cell body is intact
• Inhibited by neuroglia and by lack of fetal growth-stimulators
Neuron Structure
▪ Receive Stimuli and transmit action potentials
▪ Three Components
▪ Cell body; primary site of protein synthesis
▪ Dendrites, Short brand cytoplasmic extension that conduct electrical signal cell body
▪ Axon is a cytoplasmic extension of the body that transmit action potential to the cell body
Organization of the Nervous System
▪ Central nervous system (CNS) structures:
• Brain
•Spinal cord
▪ Peripheral nervous system (PNS) structures:
• Cranial nerves and branches
• Spinal nerves and branches
• Ganglia
• Sensory receptors

Organization of the Nervous System

▪ Peripheral nervous system (PNS) divisions
• Somatic (SNS)
▪ Sensory neurons from head, body wall, limbs, special sense organs
▪ Motor neurons to skeletal muscle: voluntary
• Autonomic (ANS) nervous systems
▪ Sensory neurons from viscera
▪ Motor neurons to viscera (cardiac muscle, smooth muscle, glands): involuntary
▪ Sympathetic: “fight-or-flight”
▪ Parasympathetic: “rest-and-digest”
• Enteric nervous system (ENS): “brain of the gut”
 ▪ Organization of the Nervous System
▪ Peripheral nervous system (PNS),
• Enteric nervous system (ENS): “brain of the gut”
▪ Sensory neurons monitor chemical changes and stretching of GI wall
▪ Motor neurons regulate contractions, secretions and endocrine secretions (involuntary)
▪Structure and Function of the Nervous System
Interactions Animation
Introduction to Structure and Function of the Nervous System
( NOT RELE ESSENTIAL TO SUK2 SA BRAIN)
▪ Action Potentials
Action potentials = nerve impulses
▪ Require
• A membrane potential: a charge difference across cell membrane (polarization)
• Ion channels: allow ions to move by diffusion from high to low concentration
▪ Leakage channels: allow ions to leak through membrane; there are more for K + than for
Na+
▪ Gated channels
▪ Open and close on command
▪ Respond to changes in membrane so can generate and conduct action potentials
Resting Membrane Potential
▪ Typically –70 mV
• Inside of membrane more negative than outside
▪ Caused by presence of ions:
• Inside (more negative) because cytosol has:
▪ Many negative ions (too large to leak out): amino acids (in cellular proteins) and
phosphates (as in ATP)
▪ K+ that easily leaks out through many K+ channels
• Outside (more positive) because interstitial fluid has:
▪ Few negative ions
▪ Na+ that does not leak out of cell: few Na+ channels
▪ Membrane “pumps” that quickly pump out Na + that does leak (diffuse) into cell
▪ Action Potential
Series of events that activate cell membrane in neuron or muscle fiber
▪ An initial event (stimulus) is required
• Triggers resting membrane to become more permeable to Na +
• Causes enough Na+ to enter cell so that cell membrane reaches threshold (~ –55 mv)
• If so, the following events occur: action potential which spreads along neuron or muscle fiber
Action Potential
▪ Depolarizing phase
• Na+ channels open 🡪 as more Na+ enters cell, membrane potential rises and becomes positive (–
70 🡪 0 🡪 + 30 mv)
▪ Repolarizing phase
• K+ channels open 🡪 as more K+ leave cell, membrane potential is returned to resting value (+ 30 🡪
0 🡪 –70 mv)
 • May overshoot: hyperpolarizing phase
Typically depolarization and repolarization take place in about 1 millisecond (1/1000 sec)
Action Potential

▪ Recovery
• Levels of ions back to normal by action of Na+/K+ pump
• Refractory period (brief): even with adequate stimulus, cell cannot be activated
▪ All-or-none principle
• If a stimulus is strong enough to cause depolarization to threshold level, the impulse will travel the
entire length of the neuron at a constant and maximum strength.
▪ Membrane Potentials
Interactions Animations
Membrane Potentials
Conduction of Nerve Impulses
▪ Nerve impulse conduction (propagation)
• Each section triggers the next locally as even more Na + channels are opened (like row of dominos)
▪ Types of conduction
• Continuous conduction
▪ In unmyelinated fibers; slower form of conduction
• Saltatory conduction
▪ In myelinated fibers; faster as impulses “leap” between nodes of Ranvier
▪ Factors that increase rate of conduction
• Myelin, large diameter and warm nerve fibers
Synaptic Transmission
▪ Similar sequence of events occurs at
• Synapse (neuron-neuron)
• Neuromuscular junction (neuron-muscle fiber: chapter 8)
• Neuroglandular junction (neuron-gland)
▪ Triggered by action potential (nerve impulse)
▪ Components of synapse:
• Sending neuron: presynaptic neuron (releases neurotransmitter)
• Space between neurons: synaptic cleft
• Receiving neuron: postsynaptic neuron
Synaptic Transmission
▪ Action potential arrives at presynaptic neuron’s end bulb
▪ Opens voltage gated Ca2+ channels 🡪 Ca2+ flows into presynaptic cytosol
▪ Increased Ca2+ concentration 🡪 exocytosis of synaptic vesicles
▪ Neurotransmitter (NT) released into cleft
▪ NT diffuses across cleft and binds to receptors in postsynaptic cell membrane
Synaptic Transmission
▪ NT serves as chemical trigger (stimulus) of ion channels
▪ Postsynaptic cell membrane may be depolarized or hyperpolarized
• Depends on type of NT and type of postsynaptic cell
• 1000+ neurons converge on synapse; the sum of all of their NTs determines effect
▪ If threshold reached, then postsynaptic cell action potential results
▪ One-way transmission only because
• Only presynaptic cells release NT
• Only postsynaptic cells have receptors for NT binding
▪ Finally, NT must be removed from the cleft. Three possible mechanisms
• Diffusion out of cleft
• Destruction by enzymes (such as ACh-ase) in cleft
• Transport back (recycling) into presynaptic cell
(ESSENTIAL TO DASOK IN BRAIN)
Neurotransmitters
▪ Acetylcholine (ACh): common in PNS
• Stimulatory (on skeletal muscles)
• Inhibitory (on cardiac muscle)
▪ Amino acids
• Glutamate, aspartate, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), glycine
▪ Modified amino acids
• Norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), serotonin
▪ Neuropeptides such as endorphins
▪ Nitric oxide (NO)
Spinal Cord Structure: Protection and Coverings
❖ 31 Pairs of Spinal nerve
❖ Shorter that vertebral Column
▪ Vertebrae
▪ Spinal meninges
• Three layers of connective tissue
▪ Dura mater
▪ Arachnoid mater
▪ Pia mater
• Continuous with cranial meninges
▪ Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
 ▪ Spinal Meninges and Spaces
▪ Epidural space: between vertebrae and dura mater
▪ Dura mater- tough ,dense connective tissue
o Extends to vertebra S2 (well beyond spinal cord)
▪ Arachnoid mater: resembles spider’s web
o Extends into subarachnoid space
▪ Subarachnoid space
o CSF circulates in this space
▪ Pia mater: thin, delicate layer
o Adheres to surface spinal cord (and brain)
o Contains blood vessels

Gross Anatomy of Spinal Cord

▪ Extends from medulla of brain to L2 vertebra
▪ Cauda equina (horse’s tail)
• Extends inferior to end of spinal cord
• Consists of roots of lumbar, sacral and coccygeal spinal nerves
▪ Left and right halves partially separated by
• Anterior median fissure and posterior median sulcus
• Small central canal (filled with CSF) in middle
▪ Enlargements: cervical and lumbar regions
• Points of origins of nerves to upper and lower limbs
Spinal Meninges and Spaces Gross Anatomy of Spinal Cord

Internal Structure of Spinal Cord

▪ Gray matter forms “H” (or “butterfly”)
• Three horns on each side; sites of cell bodies
▪ Posterior gray horns: contain sensory neurons
▪ Anterior gray horns: contain somatic motor neurons
▪ Lateral: contain autonomic motor neurons
▪ White matter (surrounds gray “H”)
• Consists of white columns
 ▪ Posterior, anterior, and lateral columns
▪ Contain tracts (bundles of axons)
▪ Sensory tracts: ascending to brain
▪ Motor tracts: descending from brain

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Spinal Nerves
▪ 31 pairs
• Named according to level of vertebra
• C1-C8, T1-T12, L1-L5, S1-S5, 1 coccygeal
• Emerge from spinal cord through intervertebral foramina
▪ Nerves attached to spinal cord by 2 roots
• Dorsal root: made of axons of sensory neurons
▪ Dorsal root ganglion: swelling containing cell bodies of sensory neurons
• Ventral root: composed of axons of motor neurons
▪ Both somatic motor and autonomic motor
▪ Formed by 2 spinal nerve roots
▪ Are mixed:
• Formed from dorsal root (sensory) and ventral root (motor) root
▪ Connective tissue coverings
• Individual axons wrapped in endoneurium
• Axons grouped in fascicles wrapped in perineurium
• Outer covering = epineurium
Distribution of Spinal Nerves
▪ Spinal nerves branch after pass through intervertebral foramina
▪ Some join with branches from neighboring nerves to form plexuses
▪ Nerve names relate to region innervated
▪ Spinal nerves T2-T12 do not form plexuses
• Called intercostal nerves
• Supply abdominal muscles, skin of chest and back, and muscles between ribs.
Plexuses
▪ Cervical plexus
• Supplies posterior head, neck, shoulders, and diaphragm
• Important nerves: phrenic to diaphragm
▪ Brachial plexus
• Supplies upper limbs + some neck and shoulder muscles
• Important nerves: radial, ulnar, axial, median to arm, forearm, hand
▪ Lumbar plexus
 • Supplies abdominal wall, external genitalia, and part of lower limbs
• Important nerves: femoral (to anterior thigh: quads)
▪ Sacral plexus
• Supplies buttocks, perineum, and most of lower limbs
• Important nerves: gluteal, sciatic (to posterior thigh and all of leg and foot)
Spinal Cord Functions
▪ Pathways for nerve impulses within tracts
• Ascending (sensory). Example: spinothalamic
• Descending (motor). Example: corticospinal
▪ Reflexes: fast, involuntary sequences of actions in response to stimuli
• Can be simple (withdrawal) or complex (learned sequence such as driving car)
• Levels
▪ Spinal (reflex arc): simple
▪ Cranial: more complex
Reflex Arc
1. Sensory receptor: responds to stimulus
2. Sensory neuron: through dorsal root ganglion and root 🡪 posterior horn
3. Integrating center: single synapse between sensory and motor neurons
4. Motor neuron: from anterior horn 🡪 ventral root 🡪 spinal nerve 🡪
5. Effector: muscle responds
Example of Reflex Arc: Patellar Reflex
1. Sensory receptor is stimulated by tap on patellar tendon
2. Sensory neuron: through dorsal root 🡪 spinal cord
3. Integrating center: single synapse in spinal cord
4. Motor neuron: through ventral root 🡪 spinal nerve 🡪 femoral nerve 🡪
5. Effector: quads contract, extend leg
Example of Reflex Arc: Patellar Reflex
Brain: Major Parts
▪ Brain stem: continuous with spinal cord
• Medulla oblongata, pons, midbrain
▪ Diencephalon: superior to brain stem
• Thalamus, hypothalamus, and pineal gland
▪ Cerebrum: largest part and most superior
• Surface covered with gray matter: cortex
• Deep to cortex is cerebral white matter
▪ Cerebellum: posterior and inferior
• Means “little brain”
▪ Cranial meninges: dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater
Brain Blood Supply and Blood-Brain Barrier
▪ Requires 20% of the body’s O2 supply
• 4 min lack 🡪 permanent damage
▪ Requires continuous glucose supply
▪ Protected by blood-brain barrier
• Allows passage of lipid soluble materials: O2, CO2, alcohol, anesthetic agents
• But controls entry of most harmful materials
▪ Created by tight capillaries and astrocytes
▪ Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF)
▪ Formed in the 4 ventricles of brain
o Lateral (#1 and 2) 🡪 3rd 🡪 4th ventricle
o Formed in choroid plexuses
• By filtration and secretion of blood plasma
• In specialized capillary networks (covered by ependymal cells) in walls of ventricles
▪ Pathway
o Through 4 ventricles 🡪 central canal of spinal cord and within subarachnoid space 🡪
o Reabsorbed through arachnoid villi into blood in superior sagittal sinus
▪ Cushions brain and provides nutrients

Brain Stem: Medulla Oblongata

▪ Most inferior part of brainstem
o White matter connects spinal cord and other parts of brain
▪ Contains vital nuclei
o Cardiovascular center
• Regulates heart rate, blood pressure
o Medullary rhythmicity area
• Adjusts respiratory rhythm
▪ Other sensory and reflex motor areas
▪ Cranial nerves VIII-XII attached here

Brain Stem: Pons

▪ Serves as a “bridge”
• Connects medulla to midbrain and above
 • Contains ascending and descending tracts
• Connects left and right sides of cerebellum
▪ Contains nuclei
• Motor relays from cerebrum to cerebellum
• Helps control breathing
• Cranial nerves V-VIII attached here
Brain Stem: Midbrain
▪ Connects pons to diencephalon
• Large tracts: cerebral peduncles
▪ Nuclei:
• Substantia nigra: related to Parkinson disease
• Red nuclei: help coordinate movements
• Origin of cranial nerves III and IV (control eye movements)
• Superior colliculi: nuclei involved in
▪ Scanning eye movements
▪ Responses to visual stimuli
• Inferior colliculi: responses to auditory input
Reticular Formation
▪ Consist of nuclei scattered throughout the brainstem
▪ Netlike arrangement of gray and white matter
▪ Contains ascending and descending tracts
▪ Ascending part = reticular activating system (RAS)
• Carries sensory pathways to cerebral cortex
• Helps maintain consciousness
• Helps induce sleep
Diencephalon
▪ Thalamus: major sensory relay center
o Also motor, autonomic, and consciousness functions
▪ Subthalamus- inferior of thalamusInvolve in motor function
▪ Epithalamus- Contains habenula which involve motivation and reward behavior
▪ Hypothalamus: lies inferior to thalamus
o Control of pituitary and hormone production
o Works with ANS regulating many viscera
o Involved with feelings and behavior patterns
o Regulation of eating, drinking, fluid levels
o Control of body temperature
o Regulation of circadian rhythms, sleep, waking
▪ Pineal gland: secretes melatonin
o Controls sleep, biological clock

Cerebellum
• Location: posterior to medulla and pons, inferior to cerebrum
• Attached to brain stem by cerebellar peduncles
▪ Structure:
 • Two cerebellar hemispheres *Cerebellar cortex: gray matter
• Tree-like appearance (seen in sagittal section) of white matter and gray nuclei
▪ Functions
• Receives wide range of sensory input from muscles, joints, tendons, eyes, inner ears
• Compares actual movements with intended ones
• Helps produce smooth, coordinated movements
• Helps execute skilled motor activities
• Regulates posture and balance
Cerebrum: Structure
▪ Cerebral cortex
▪ Internal white mater
▪ Deep gray nuclei
▪ Surface folds of cerebral cortex: gyri
▪ Grooves between gyri: sulci
▪ Longitudinal fissure: divides cerebrum into left and right hemispheres
▪ Hemispheres connected by corpus collosum
▪ Each hemisphere has 4 lobes
• Frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital
• Central sulcus separates frontal, parietal
• Precentral gyrus anterior to sulcus: primary motor area
• Postcentral gyrus: primary somatosensory area
▪ Deep gray nuclei: basal ganglia
• Globus pallidus, putamen, caudate nucleus
Limbic System
▪ Ring of structures on inner border of cerebrum and floor of diencephalon
▪ Called “emotional brain”: plays primary role in pain, pleasure, anger, affection and in behavior
▪ Involuntary activity related to survival
▪ Important in memory development
Meninges- CSF helps cushion in brain and pia matter attach in brain
Ventricles- Connected to ventricles by interventricular foramen
Cerebrospinal Fluid- CSF moves from lateral to the third and fourth ventricle
Functional Areas of Cerebral Cortex
▪ Specialized areas in specific regions of cerebral cortex
▪ Sensory areas receive input 🡪 perception
▪ Motor areas 🡪 initiate movements
▪ Associative areas 🡪 complex integration: memory, emotion, reasoning, judgment
Sensory Areas
▪ Primary somatosensory area: postcentral gyrus
• Input includes: touch, proprioception, pain, itching, tickle, temperature
▪ Primary visual area: occipital lobe
▪ Primary auditory area: temporal lobe
▪ Primary gustatory (taste) area: base of postcentral gyrus
 ▪ Primary olfactory (smell) area: medial aspect of temporal lobe
Motor Areas
▪ Located anterior to central sulcus
▪ Primary motor area: precentral gyrus
▪ Broca’s speech area
• Interacts with premotor area and primary motor area to regulate breathing and speech muscles
• Is in left hemisphere in 97% of persons
Association Areas
▪ Integrate and interpret information
▪ Examples
▪ Somatosensory association area
o Posterior to primary somatosensory area
o Integrates sensation: exact shape and texture of object compared with stored memories
▪ Wernike’s area: left temporal, parietal lobes
o Interprets meaning of speech: words 🡪 thoughts
o Right hemisphere adds emotional content

Somatic Sensory Pathways

▪ Relay sensory information from periphery to cerebral cortex
▪ 3 neurons in each pathway
• Cell body #1 in dorsal root ganglion
• Cell body #2 in spinal cord or brain stem
• Cell body #3 in thalamus; axon extends to cerebral cortex (somatosensory area in postcentral
gyrus)
▪ Most sensory input to right side of body reaches left side of brain (and vice versa)
Somatic Sensory Pathways
▪ Posterior column - medial lemniscus pathway senses
• Fine touch: body location, texture, size
• Proprioception: position and motion of body parts
• Vibrations: fluctuating touch stimuli
▪ Spinothalamic pathways
• Anterior and lateral spinothalamic tracts
• Relay impulses for pain, tickle, itch, hot, and cold sensations
Somatic Motor Pathways
▪ Signals come from
• Upper motor neurons: via corticospinal tracts
• Basal ganglia: help with muscle tone
• Cerebellum: coordination
• Sensory neurons or interneurons via reflexes
▪ Impulses activate lower motor neurons
• Cell bodies in anterior gray of spinal cord
• Axons 🡪 ventral root 🡪 spinal nerve 🡪 muscle 🡪 voluntary movements
 Somatic Sensory and Motor Pathways
Interactions Animation
▪ Somatic Sensory and Motor Pathways
▪ Brain controls opposite side of the body: all sensory and motor pathways cross in CNS
• Left side of the brain controls right side of body
• Right side of brain controls left side of body
▪ Left hemisphere important for spoken and written language, numerical and scientific skills, and reasoning
▪ Right side more involved with spatial and pattern recognition and emotional content
Memory
▪ Process for storing and retrieving information
▪ Involves structural and functional changes
▪ Involves association areas, parts of limbic system, and diencephalon
▪ Skill memory also involves cerebellum and basal ganglia
Cranial Nerves
I.Olfactory: special sensory—smell
II.Optic: special sensory—vision
III.Oculomotor: motor—control of eye movements
IV.Trochlear: motor—control of eye movements
V.Trigeminal: mixed
• General sensory: touch, pain, pressure, hot, cold in face
•
Motor: to muscles used for chewing
VI. Abducens: motor—control of eye movements
VII.Facial: mixed
•Special sensory (taste) from anterior of tongue
•Motor to muscles of facial expression, tear glands, and some salivary glands
VIII.Vestibulocochlear: special sensory—ear
IX. Glossopharyngeal: mixed
o Sensory for posterior of tongue, pharynx, and palate; blood pressure
o Motor to pharyngeal muscles (swallowing), salivary gland (parotid
X. Vagus: mixed (the major parasympathetic nerve)
o Sensory from pharynx, ear, diaphragm, visceral organs in thoracic and abdominal cavities
o Motor to palatal and pharyngeal muscles (swallowing and voice); to viscera in thoracic and
abdominal cavities
XI. Accessory: motor to voluntary muscles including sternocleidomastoid and trapezius (move head,
shoulders)
XII. Hypoglossal: motor to tongue (swallowing and speech)
Aging
▪ Rapid brain growth during first few years of life
• Due to increase in size of neurons and proliferation of neuroglia
• Increase in development of dendritic branches and synaptic contacts
▪ From early adulthood through old age:
Decline in brain mass Fewer synaptic contacts brain function Some decrease in brain function
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
Introduction to the ANS

▪ Somatic nervous system (SNS) + ANS 🡪 peripheral nervous system (PNS)

▪ ANS
• Not under conscious control
• Is regulated by hypothalamus, brainstem
▪ The ANS supplies nerves to viscera
• Smooth muscle (stomach, blood vessels)
• Cardiac muscle (heart)
• Glands (sweat and digestive glands)
Comparison: SNS vs ANS
▪ SNS
• Controls skeletal muscle
• Conscious, voluntary control
• Motor pathway: one neuron from CNS to effector
• Does include sensory neurons (from skin, skeletal muscles, and special sense organs)
• All release the neurotransmitter Ach
▪ ANS
• Controls viscera: smooth and cardiac muscle, and glands
• Unconscious, involuntary
• Motor pathway: series of two neurons from CNS to effector
• Does include sensory neurons (monitors viscera)
• Two divisions: sympathetic, parasympathetic
• Release either ACh or NE
ANS Motor Pathways
▪ Autonomic motor pathway includes two motor neurons
• Preganglionic neuron from CNS to neuron in autonomic ganglion
• Postganglionic neuron from cell body in ganglion to effector
Divisions of the ANS
▪ Sympathetic (S) division + parasympathetic (P) division
▪ Most viscera supplied with nerves of both S and P divisions: dual innervation
▪ S and P have opposite (antagonistic) effects
• Heart rate: S stimulates, P inhibits
• Digestive organs: S inhibit, P stimulate
▪ S: “flight or flight,” P: “rest and digest”
▪ Some viscera receive only S (not P) nerves:
• Sweat glands, many blood vessels, hair muscles
Sympathetic (S) Division
▪ Sympathetic preganglionic neurons
• Have cell bodies located in lateral gray of spinal cord segments T1-T12 + L1-L2
▪ So S division is called “thoracolumbar”
 • Axons pass through ventral roots of spinal nerves
▪ May branch many times
▪ May ascend or descend to many levels of S trunk ganglia (from cervical to sacral)
▪ Can synapse with 20 or more postganglionic neuron cell bodies
▪ Results: widespread S effects (viscera respond “in sympathy with one another”)
▪ Sympathetic postganglionic neurons
• S postganglionic neurons cell bodies located
▪ In S “trunk ganglia” (2 long chains lateral to vertebrae)
▪ From cervical to sacral regions 🡪 widespread S effects
▪ Many axons from these cell bodies pass back into spinal nerves to reach viscera in
skin (sweat glands, hair muscles, blood vessels)
▪ In S “prevertebral ganglia” anterior to 3 large abdominal arteries
▪ Named celiac, superior and inferior mesenteric ganglia
▪ Supply abdominal viscera: stomach, intestine, kidneys, liver, spleen
• Axons pass from ganglia to viscera in S nerves
Parasympathetic (P) Division
▪ P preganglionic neurons
• Cell bodies located in brainstem + in spinal cord segments S2-S4
▪ Therefore P division is called “craniosacral”
• Axons in cranial nerves III, VII, IX and X and in pelvic nerves from S2-S4
▪ Vagus nerves (cranial nerves X) carry 80% of all P nerve impulses.
▪ Vagus nerves carry both motor and sensory neurons to/from viscera within the thorax and
most of the abdominal cavity.
▪ P preganglionic axons do not branch or pass though S trunk ganglia but pass directly
almost to viscera
▪ P postganglionic neurons
• Cell bodies lie in terminal ganglia
▪ Located within or near the innervated organ
▪ So P nerves cause precise, localized (not widespread) effects
▪ Because of anatomical arrangement, S nerves supply all viscera but P nerves do not reach
some viscera. These include sweat glands, arrector pili muscles of hairs in skin, kidneys,
spleen, adrenal medullae, and the walls of most blood vessels.
• Axons pass from ganglia to viscera in P nerves
ANS Neurotransmitters: Comparison
▪ Acetylcholine (ACh)
▪ ACh more common; released by:
• All S and P preganglionic axons
• All P postganglionic axons
• Some S postganglionic axons (to sweat glands)
▪ ACh destroyed by enzyme ACh-ase so short-lived response
▪ Norepinephrine (NE)
▪ NE less common; released by:
• Almost all S postganglionic axons
▪ NE has longer lasting effects enhanced by epinephrine + NE from adrenal medullae
Sympathetic Effects
▪ Fight-or-flight activities
• Increase heart rate and contraction, and blood pressure (BP)
• Dilate pupils
• Dilate airways
• Dilate vessels to skeletal muscles, heart, liver and adipose tissue
• Constrict blood vessels to nonessential organs: skin, GI tract, kidneys
• Mobilize nutrients for energy: glucose and fats
Parasympathetic Effects
▪ Rest-and-digest activities
• SLUDD
▪ Salivation
▪ Lacrimation
▪ Urination
▪ Digestion
▪ Defecation
• Decrease heart rate, airway diameter, pupil diameter
Somatic Senses and Special Senses
Special Senses
▪ Smell (olfaction)
▪ Taste (gustation)
▪ Vision
▪ Balance
▪ Hearing
General Senses: Somatic and Visceral
▪ Somatic
• Tactile: touch, pressure, vibration
• Thermal (warm, cold)
• Pain
• Proprioception (joint, muscle position sense; movements of limbs, head)
▪ Visceral: internal organ conditions
Definition of Sensation
▪ Conscious or subconscious awareness of change in external or internal environment
▪ Requires
1. Stimulus
2. Sensory receptor
3. Neural pathway
4. Brain region for integration
Characteristics
▪ Perception: conscious awareness
• Occurs in cerebral cortex
▪ Adaptation: decreased receptor response during prolonged stimulation
 • Decreased perception
• Adaptation speed varies with receptor
▪ Rapid adaptation: pressure, touch, smell
▪ Slow adaptation: pain, body position, chemical levels in blood
Sensory Receptors: Structural Types
▪ Free nerve endings
• Pain, thermal, tickle, itch, some touch receptors
▪ Encapsulated nerve endings
• Touch pressure, and vibration
▪ Separate, specialized cells
• Hair cells in inner ear
• Photoreceptors in retina of eye
▪ Mechanoreceptors
• Cell deformation: stretching or bending
• Touch, pressure, vibration
▪ Thermoreceptors: temperature
▪ Nociceptors: pain
▪ Photoreceptors: light
▪ Chemoreceptors: taste, smell
▪ Osmoreceptors
• Osmotic pressure of body fluid
Somatic Senses
▪ Somatic receptors in skin, mucous membranes, muscles, tendons, and joints
▪ Distributed unevenly: dense concentration of receptors in very sensitive areas
• Fingertips, lips, tip of tongue
▪ Include tactile, thermal, pain, proprioceptive
Tactile Sensations
▪ Touch, pressure, vibration
• Encapsulated mechanoreceptors
▪ Itch and tickle
• Free nerve endings
Touch
▪ Rapidly adapting receptors for touch
• Meissner corpuscles
• Hair root plexuses: detect hair movement
▪ Slowly adapting receptors for touch
• Type I mechanoreceptors: Merkel discs or tactile discs
▪ Surface receptors: in epidermis
• Type I mechanoreceptors: Ruffini corpuscles
▪ Deep in dermis and tendons
Pressure and Vibration
▪ Pressure
 • Pacinian (lamellated) corpuscles: layers like onion
• Rapid adapting
• Widely distributed: in dermis, subcutaneous, around joints, tendons, muscles, periosteum
▪ Vibration
• Response to rapidly repetitive stimuli
• Receptors: Meissner and pacinian
Itch and Tickle
▪ Itch: chemical stimulation of free nerve endings
• Bradykinin from inflammation response
▪ Tickle: from free nerve endings and pacinian corpuscles
• Tickle requires stimulus from outside of self
• Effects of attempts to tickle oneself are blocked by signals to/from cerebellum
Thermal Sensations
▪ Two kinds of thermoreceptors
• Cold receptors: 10˚–40˚ C (50–105˚ F)
▪ Located in epidermis
• Warm receptors: 32˚–48˚ C (90–118˚ F)
▪ Located in dermis
▪ Both adapt rapidly but continue slow signals during prolonged stimulus
▪ Outside these ranges: nociceptors detect pain
▪ Pain Sensations
▪ Nociceptors
o Free nerve endings in every tissue except brain
o Can respond to any excessive stimulus
o Minimal adaptation
▪ Types of pain
o Fast pain: acute, sharp pain
 Well localized
o Slow pain: chronic, burning, aching, throbbing
 More diffuse (not localized)
▪ Referred pain is visceral pain displaced to surface

Proprioception (Kinesthesia)
▪ Awareness of
• Body position, movements, weight of objects
▪ Sites of receptors
• Muscles (muscle spindles)
• Tendons (tendon organs)
• Joint kinesthetic receptors (synovial joints)
• Inner ear (hair cells): head position
▪ Tracts to
• Somatosensory area of cerebral cortex and
• Cerebellum
 ▪ Slight adaptation
Special Senses
▪ Smell (olfaction)
▪ Taste (gustation)
▪ Vision
▪ Balance
▪ Hearing
Smell: Olfaction
▪ Site of olfactory receptors
• In mucosa of superior region of nose
▪ Three types of olfactory cells
• Olfactory receptors
▪ Consist of olfactory hairs with chemoreceptors
▪ These are first order neurons of olfactory pathway
• Supporting cell
▪ Epithelial cells: support, protect
• Basal cells: stem cells that produce new neurons (receptors) throughout life. Rare!
Stimulation of Receptors
▪ Genetic evidence: 100’s of primary odors exist
▪ Binding of chemical odorants stimulates receptor
▪ Recognition of 10,000 odors from combination of primary receptor input
▪ Rapid adaptation by 50% in 1 second
Olfactory Pathway
▪ First-order neurons
• Olfactory receptors are neurons in nasal mucosa
• Axons form olfactory nerves (cranial nerve I)
▪ Extend through cribriform plate into cranium to olfactory bulb
▪ Second-order neurons
• Neuron cell bodies in olfactory bulb
• Olfactory tract: axons extend from olfactory bulb to cerebral cortex (temporal lobe)
▪ Limbic system: emotional response to odors
Taste: Gustation
▪ Five primary tastes: salt, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami
▪ Perception of what is called “taste” includes olfactory input
▪ Receptors in 10,000 taste buds
• Located on tongue, pharynx, epiglottis
• In structures called papillae
▪ Vallate (posterior)
▪ Fungiform (all over)
▪ Filiform: touch receptors only
Structure of Taste Bud
 ▪ Contains 3 types of epithelial cells
• Supporting cells that surround
• Gustatory receptor cells
▪ Gustatory hair projects from receptor through taste pore
• Basal cells
▪ Stem cells that produce supporting cells that develop into receptor cells (10-day life span)
Stimulation of Taste Receptors
▪ Sequence of events
• Tastant dissolves in saliva 🡪
• Enters taste pore 🡪 contacts gustatory hair 🡪
• Electrical signal produced 🡪
• Causes gustatory cell to release neurotransmitter
• That activates dendrites of first-order neurons
▪ Adaptation occurs within minutes
▪ Different tastes arise from activation of different groups of taste neurons

Gustatory Pathway
▪ Cranial nerves transmit impulses
• Facial (CN VII) from anterior of tongue
• Glossopharyngeal (CN IX) from posterior
• Vagus (CN X) from pharynx, epiglottis
▪ To medulla oblongata
• 🡪 Thalamus 🡪 primary gustatory area of cerebral cortex
• 🡪 Limbic system or hypothalamus
Vision: Eyes
▪ Accessory structures
• Eyebrows, eyelashes: protection
• Eyelids: protection and lubrication (blinking)
• Extrinsic muscles: move eyeball
▪ Superior rectus, inferior rectus, lateral rectus, medial rectus, superior oblique, inferior
oblique
• Lacrimal apparatus: produces tears
▪ Lacrimal glands 🡪 lacrimal ducts 🡪 surface of upper eyelid 🡪 surface of eye 🡪
▪ Lacrimal canals 🡪 lacrimal sac 🡪 nasolacrimal duct 🡪 nasal cavity
Layers of Eyeball
▪ First layer: Fibrous tunic
o Anteriorly: cornea (clear, colorless)
o Posteriorly: sclera (“white of eye”)
▪ Second layer: Vascular tunic consists of
o Choroid: lines most of internal surface of eye
 Contains blood vessels that nourish the eye
o Ciliary body consists of
 Ciliary processes: secrete aqueous humor
 Ciliary muscles: changes lens shape for focusing
 o Iris: pigmented part of eye (blue, brown, green)
 Smooth muscle that dilates or constricts pupil
 Pupil: hole for passage of light

Layers of Eyeball
▪ Third layer: Retina—composed of two layers
• Neural layer: outgrowth of brain
▪ Photoreceptor layer: rods and cones
▪ Bipolar cell layer
▪ Ganglion cell layer: axons of neurons here form optic nerve (CN II) that exits eye at optic
disc (“blind spot” since no rods/cones here)
• Pigmented layer: helps absorb stray light
▪ Between choroid and neural layer
Photoreceptors: Rods and Cones
❖ Rods: black-and-white vision; 120 million
❖ Cones: color sensitive; 6 million cones
 Three types: sensitive to blue, green or red light
 Color vision results from combined input
o Cones mostly in central fovea in center of macula lutea
• Point of highest visual acuity (sharpness)
▪ Visual pathway
o Photoreceptor cells (rods or cones) 🡪
o Bipolar layer 🡪

Interior of Eyeball
▪ Two cavities separated by the lens
• Anterior cavity filled with aqueous humor
▪ Clear, colorless fluid secreted from capillaries in ciliary body
▪ Completely replaced every 90 min
▪ Establishes intraocular pressure, maintains eye shape; nourishes lens and cornea
▪ Drains into blood in scleral venous sinus (canal of Schlemm)
• Vitreous chamber: filled with gel-like vitreous body (not replaced)
▪ Holds retina back against choroid
Physiology of Vision: Three Steps
A. Formation of image on retina
B. Stimulation of photoreceptors (rods and cones)
C. Visual pathway: nerve impulses pass to cerebral cortex
A. Formation of Image on Retina: Four Steps
1. Refraction (bending) of light rays to focus them on retina
2. Accommodation: change of lens shape to focus for near (or far) vision
3. Constriction (narrowing) of pupil to control amount of light entering the eye
4. Convergence of eyeballs: for binocular vision
Step 1: Refraction of Light
▪ Definition: bending of light rays as they pass from medium of one density to another of different density
▪ 75% occurs at cornea; lens also helps focus light on retina
▪ Image is inverted but brain adjusts and interprets distance and size
Step 2: Accommodation
▪ Lens adjusts shape for distance to allow image to focus on retina
• For distant objects, ciliary muscle relaxes 🡪 flat lens
• For closeup vision, ciliary muscle contracts 🡪 fat lens (rounder = more convex)
▪ Visual disorders
• Myopia (nearsightedness): can see near but not far objects
▪ Eyeball is too long so lens cannot accommodate enough to focus images of distant objects
onto retina
Step 2: Accommodation
▪ Visual disorders
• Hyperopia (farsightedness): can see far but not near
▪ Eyeball is too short so lens cannot accommodate enough to focus images of near objects
onto retina
• Astigmatism: irregular curvature of cornea or lens
• Presbyopia: aging change 🡪 loss of elasticity of lens 🡪 farsightedness 🡪 reading glasses
• These disorders can be corrected with lenses or
Steps 3 and 4: Constriction and Convergence
▪ Constriction of pupil
• Autonomic (parasympathetic) reflex to prevent excessive light rays from entering eye
• By contraction of circular muscles of iris
▪ Convergence
• Eyes rotate inward for binocular vision
• By contraction of extrinsic eye muscles
▪ B. Stimulation of Photoreceptors
Photoreceptors: light 🡪 neural signal
• In rods light is absorbed by a photopigment (rhodopsin) which splits into opsin + retinal and leads
🡪 receptor potential
▪ Vitamin A deficiency decreases rhodopsin production and leads to night blindness.
• In cones light is absorbed by 3 opsins 🡪 receptor potential for color vision
▪ In colorblindness, red or green cones are missing.
C. Visual Pathway
▪ Rods or cones 🡪 bipolar cells 🡪 ganglion cells (their axons form optic nerve = CN II)
• About 50% of these axons cross over to opposite side of brain in optic chiasm
• Axons continue on into optic tract 🡪
▪ 🡪 Terminate/synapse in thalamus 🡪
▪ 🡪 Occipital lobes of cerebral cortex
• Right brain sees left side of object
• Left brain sees right side of object
Hearing and Equilibrium: Ear Structure
▪ Outer ear: auricle, external auditory canal, and tympanic membrane (ear drum)
• Canal contains hairs and ceruminous glands
▪ Middle ear: auditory tube (eustachian tube) and ossicles (bones)
• Ossicles (malleus, incus, stapes: attached to oval window)
 ▪ Inner ear: bony labyrinth + membranous labyrinth filled with endolymph
• Cochlea: sense organ of hearing ,
• Vestibule and semicircular canals: organs of balance
Inner Ear Structure: Three Regions
▪ Vestibule include
o Two sacs: utricle and saccule
▪ Semicircular canals: at right angles
o Contain membranous semicircular ducts
o Each ends in a swelling known as ampulla
▪ Cochlea: 3 levels
o Cochlear duct: membranous, has endolymph
 Contains spiral organ (sensory organ for hearing)
▪ Above: scala vestibuli: ends at oval window
▪ Below: scala tympani: ends at round window

Spiral Organ
▪ Sits on basilar membrane
• Floor of cochlear duct
▪ Contains supporting cells + hair cells
▪ Hair cells
• Covered with jellylike tectorial membrane
• Are receptors for auditory sensations
• Synapse with sensory neurons in cochlear branch of vestibulocochlear nerve cranial nerve VIII)
Physiology of Hearing
▪ Sound waves in air 🡪 auditory canal
▪ Tympanic membrane 🡪 ossicle movement 🡪 stapes strikes oval window
▪ Pressure waves in perilymph
• Conveyed from scala vestibuli 🡪 scala tympani
▪ Pressure waves in endolymph cause
• Hair cells bend against tectorial membrane
• Neurotransmitter released to sensory neurons
▪ Pitch (wavelength): location in cochlea
▪ Volume (loudness): intensity of waves
Auditory Pathway
▪ Cochlear neurons (in cranial nerve VIII) end in medulla
• On same side: R ear 🡪 R side medulla
▪ 🡪 Midbrain 🡪 thalamus
▪ 🡪 Auditory cortex in temporal lobe
• Each side of brain receives input from both ears
Physiology of Equilibrium
▪ Static equilibrium: senses position relative to gravity
• As when head is tilted or a car is speeding up or slowing down
▪ Dynamic equilibrium: senses position in response to head movement
• As in spinning movements
Static Equilibrium
▪ Sensed in maculae of utricle and saccule
▪ Mechanism
• Gravity pulls on otoliths in otolithic membrane
• Bends hair cells in otolithic membrane
• Triggers nerve impulses in vestibular branch of vestibulochochlear nerve
Dynamic Equilibrium
▪ Semicircular canals (3)
• At right angles to each other
▪ Cristae in each ampulla contain
• Hair cells embedded in jellylike cupula
• Supporting cells
▪ Mechanism
• When head turns, hair cells move
• Endolymph lags and bends hair cells
• 🡪 Nerve impulses in vestibular branch
Equilibrium Pathways
▪ Axons from vestibular branch
▪ 🡪 medulla or cerebellum
▪ Medulla 🡪 motor control: eye, head, neck
▪ 🡪 Spinal cord tracts for adjusting muscle tone and postural muscles