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Chapter 8
Nervous System Part 1
Seeley’s ESSENTIALS OF Anatomy & Physiology
Tenth Edition

Authors: Cinnamon Vanputte, Jennifer Regan, Andrew Russo

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Nervous System

Figure 8.1
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Nervous System Functions

1. Receiving sensory input
2. Integrating information
3. Controlling muscles and glands
4. Maintaining homeostasis
5. Establishing and maintaining mental activity

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Main Divisions of Nervous System 1

Central nervous system (CNS)

• brain and spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
• All the nervous tissue outside the CNS
Sensory division
• Conducts action potentials from sensory receptors
to the CNS
Motor division
• Conducts action potentials to effector organs, such
as muscles and glands
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Main Divisions of Nervous System 2

Somatic nervous system

• Transmits action potentials from the CNS to skeletal
muscles.

Autonomic nervous system

• Transmits action potentials from the CNS to cardiac
muscle, smooth muscle, and glands
Enteric nervous system
• A special nervous system found only in the digestive
tract.
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Organization of the Nervous System

Figure 8.2
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Cells of the Nervous System

Neurons
• receive stimuli, conduct action potentials, and
transmit signals to other neurons or effector organs.

Glial cells
• supportive cells of the CNS and PNS, meaning these
cells do not conduct action potentials. Instead, glial
cells carry out different functions that enhance
neuron function and maintain normal conditions
within nervous tissue.

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Cells of the Nervous System

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Typical Neuron

Figure 8.3
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Types of Neurons

Figure 8.4
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Neurons
A neuron (nerve cell) has a:
• Cell body – which contains a single nucleus
• Dendrite – which is a cytoplasmic extension from
the cell body, that usually receives information from
other neurons and transmits the information to the
cell body
• Axon – which is 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
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Structural Types of Neurons 1

Multipolar neurons have many dendrites and a

single axon.
Most of the neurons within the CNS and nearly
all motor neurons are multipolar.
Bipolar neurons have two processes: one
dendrite and one axon.
Bipolar neurons are located in some sensory
organs, such as in the retina of the eye and in
the nasal cavity.
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Structural Types of Neurons 2

Pseudo-unipolar 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.
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Direction of Nerve Impulse

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Neurotransmitter Type

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Glial Cells

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Types of Glial Cells

Figure 8.5
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Glial Cells 1

Glial cells are the supportive cells of the CNS and

PNS.
Astrocytes serve as the major supporting cells in
the CNS.
Astrocytes can stimulate or inhibit the signaling
activity of nearby neurons and form the blood-
brain barrier.
Ependymal cells line the cavities in the brain
that contains cerebrospinal fluid.
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Glial Cells 2

Microglial cells act in an immune function in the

CNS by removing bacteria and cell debris.
Oligodendrocytes provide myelin to neurons in
the CNS.
Schwann cells provide myelin to neurons in the
PNS.

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Innervation of the Autonomic Nervous System

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Myelinated and Unmyelinated Axons

Figure 8.6
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Myelin Sheath 1

Myelin sheaths 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.
Myelin is an excellent insulator that prevents
almost all ion movement across the cell
membrane.

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Myelin Sheath 2

Gaps in the myelin sheath, called nodes of

Ranvier, occur about every millimeter.
Ion movement can occur at the nodes of
Ranvier.
Myelination of an axon increases the speed and
efficiency of action potential generation along
the axon.
Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the myelin
sheath that causes loss of muscle function.
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Unmyelinated Neurons
Unmyelinated axons 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.

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Organization of Nervous Tissue

The nervous tissue varies in color due to the
abundance or absence of myelinated axons.
Nervous tissue 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.
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Action Potential 1

Action potentials allow conductivity along nerve

or muscle membrane, similar to electricity going
along an electrical wire.
The channels responsible for the action potential
are voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels, which are
closed during rest (resting membrane potential).
When a stimulus is applied to the nerve cell,
following neurotransmitter activation of
chemically gated channels, Na+ channels open
very briefly, and Na+ diffuses quickly into the cell.
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Action Potential 2

This movement of Na+, which is called a local current,

causes the inside of the cell membrane to become
positive, a change called depolarization.
If depolarization is not strong enough, the Na+ channels
close again, and the local potential disappears without
being conducted along the nerve cell membrane.
If depolarization 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.
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Action Potential 3

The opening of these channels causes a massive, 600-

fold increase in membrane permeability to Na+.
Voltage-gated K+ channels also begin to open.
As more Na+ enters the cell, depolarization continues at
a much faster pace, causing a 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.
During this time, more K+ channels are opening and K+
leaves the cell, resulting in repolarization.
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Action Potential 4

At the end of repolarization, the charge on the cell

membrane briefly becomes more negative than the
resting membrane potential; this condition is called
hyperpolarization and occurs briefly.
Action potentials occur in an all-or-none fashion
All-or-none refers to the fact that if threshold is
reached, an action potential occurs; if the threshold
is not reached, no action potential occurs.
The sodium-potassium pump assists in restoring the
resting membrane potential.
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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.
Action potentials on myelinated axons occur in
a jumping pattern at the nodes of Ranvier.
This type of action potential conduction is called
saltatory conduction.
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Unmyelinated Axon Conduction

Figure 8.10
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Myelinated Axon Conduction

Figure 8.11
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Axon Conduction Speed

The speed of action potential conduction varies
widely, even among myelinated axons; it is based
on the diameter of axon fibers.
Medium-diameter, lightly myelinated axons,
characteristic 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.
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The Synapse
1. Action potentials arriving at the presynaptic
terminal cause voltage-gated Ca2+ channels
to open.

2. Ca2+ diffuses into the cell and causes synaptic

vesicles to release neurotransmitter molecules.

3. Neurotransmitter molecules diffuse from

the presynaptic terminal across the
synaptic cleft.

4. Neurotransmitter molecules combine with

their receptor sites and cause chemically gated
Na+ channels to open. Na+ diffuses into the
cell and causes a change in membrane potential.

Figure 8.12
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Synapse 1

A neuroneuronal synapse is a junction where the

axon of one neuron interacts with another
neuron.
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.
Chemical substances called neurotransmitters
are stored in synaptic vesicles in the presynaptic
terminal.
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Synapse 2

An action potential reaching the presynaptic

terminal causes voltage-gated Ca2+ channels to
open, and Ca2+ moves into the cell.
This influx of Ca2+ 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.
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Synapse 3

The binding of neurotransmitters to these membrane

receptors causes chemically gated channels for Na+,
K+, or Cl− 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.
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Synapse 4

If Na+ channels open, the postsynaptic cell

becomes depolarized, and an action potential will
result if threshold is reached.
If K+ or Cl− channels open, the inside of the
postsynaptic cell tends to become more negative,
or hyperpolarized, and an action potential is
inhibited from occurring.
There are many neurotransmitters, with the best
known being acetylcholine and norepinephrine.
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Synapse 5

Neurotransmitters 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.
An enzyme called acetylcholinesterase breaks down the
acetylcholine.
Norepinephrine is either actively transported back into
the presynaptic terminal or broken down by enzymes.
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Reflex
A reflex is an involuntary reaction in response to a
stimulus applied to the periphery and transmitted
to the CNS.
Reflexes allow a person to react to stimuli 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.
A reflex arc is the neuronal pathway by which a
reflex occurs and has five basic components.
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Reflex Arc

Figure 8.13
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Reflex Arc Components

1. A sensory receptor
2. A sensory neuron
3. Interneurons, which are neurons located
between and communicating with two other
neurons
4. A motor neuron
5. An effector organ (muscles or glands).
Note: The simplest reflex arcs do not involve
interneurons.
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Neuronal Pathways

Figure 8.14
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Neuronal Pathway (Converging)

The CNS has simple to complex neuronal
pathways.
A 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.

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Neuronal Pathway (Diverging)

A diverging pathway is a simple pathway in which
an axon from one neuron divides and synapses
with more than one other postsynaptic neuron.
This allows information transmitted in one
neuronal pathway to diverge into two or more
pathways.

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Summation 1

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.
Many presynaptic action potentials are needed in a
process called summation.
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.
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Summation 2

Spatial summation occurs when the local potentials

originate from different locations on the postsynaptic
neuron—for 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.
Spatial and temporal summation can lead to stimulation
or inhibition, depending on the type of signal.
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